Mental puzzles ‘fail’ to keep the brain young – but problem solving is worth it
Puzzles such as crosswords and sudoku do not counteract mental decline in old age, but can provide a higher point from which decline begins, a study has found.
Researchers found while regular problem-solving will boost mental ability in old age, it had no impact on the rate of mental decline associated with ageing.
A team from Aberdeen University and Aberdeen Royal Infirmary said intellectual activity provided a “higher cognitive point” from which to decline.
Previous studies have suggested doing puzzles, reading from an early age, playing board games and playing a musical instrument at least twice a week is linked with a reduced risk of dementia.
But the new study said there had been a lack of historical childhood mental ability data and the effect of practice on improving test scores has often been overlooked in mental ageing studies.
The new study, published in the British Medical Journal, investigated the link between intellectual engagement and mental ability in later life based on 498 people born in 1936.
Researchers used data from the archives of the Scottish Council for Research in Education (SCRE), which had maintained population-based records of the Scottish Mental Surveys of 1947.
All the respondents had taken a group intelligence test called the Moray House Test at the age of 11. They were subjected to memory and mental processing speed testing up to five times over a 15-year period. The team found despite intellectual activity boosting mental ability in old age, it had no effect on the rate of mental decline caused by ageing.
But the researchers stressed it was an observational study and it was “impossible for a causal effect to be inferred” because of other unmeasured factors such as personality.
Dr Roger Staff, head of medical physics at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, said although puzzles could enhance mental ability, they did not protect against decline.
Anyone who’s played sudoku knows the feeling. Just as it seems the moment of triumph is at hand, there it is: a column where a three should go but which also contains another three. Somewhere, somehow, a mistake has been made.
Those beyond a certain age might occasionally worry this could be the start of the brain’s seemingly inevitable decline, but then reassure themselves that simply by doing the puzzle they are helping to stave off the arrival of this bleak day.
However, according to a new study, while performing such tricky mental tasks on a regular basis can boost your mental faculties, it does not actually have an effect on problems caused by ageing.
The researchers claimed previous studies that suggested the existence of this beneficial effect had suffered from a lack of data about mental ability in childhood among other problems.
But science can be fickle. One study is seldom conclusive. Sometimes scientists are pretty confident, but then belatedly discover a stray three in their theory. So, in the meantime, it’s probably worthwhile to carry on with the sudoku.