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Monday, July 17, 2017

Not Puzzling at All: Crossword Puzzlers Have Better Brain Function

      The more regularly people report doing word puzzles such as crosswords, the better their brain function in later life, a large-scale and robust online trial, published today, has found.




      Researchers at the University of Exeter Medical School and Kings College, London, analyzed data from more than 17,000 healthy people aged 50 and over, submitted in an online trial. In research presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC) 2017, the team asked participants how frequently they played word puzzles such as crosswords.





     "The study, one of the largest of its kind, used tests from the CogTrackTM and PROTECT online cognitive test systems to assess core aspects of brain function. They found that the more regularly participants engaged with word puzzles, the better they performed on tasks assessing attention, reasoning and memory."





       "From their results, researchers calculate that people who engage in word puzzles have brain function equivalent to ten years younger than their age, on tests of grammatical reasoning speed and short term memory accuracy."




      Keith Wesnes, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Exeter Medical School, said: "We found direct relationships between the frequency of word puzzle use and the speed and accuracy of performance on nine cognitive tasks assessing a range of aspects of function including attention, reasoning and memory. Performance was consistently better in those who reported engaging in puzzles, and generally improved incrementally with the frequency of puzzle use. For example, on test measures of grammatical reasoning speed and short-term memory accuracy, performing word puzzles was associated with an age-related reduction of around 10 years. We now need to follow up this very exciting association in a clinical trial, to establish whether engaging in puzzles results in improvement in brain function."




      "The study used participants in the PROTECT online platform, run by the University of Exeter and Kings College London. Currently, more than 22,000 healthy people aged between 50 and 96 are registered in the study, which is planning further expansion. The online platform enables researchers to conduct and manage large-scale studies without the need for laboratory visits. PROTECT is a 10 year study with participants being followed up annually to enable a better understanding of cognitive trajectories in this age range. 




     Clive Ballard, Professor of Age-Related Diseases at the University of Exeter Medical School, said: "We know that many of the factors involved in dementia are preventable. It is essential that we find out what lifestyle factors really make a difference to helping people maintain healthy brains to stop the soaring rise of the disease. We can't yet say that crosswords give you a sharper brain -- the next step is to assess whether encouraging people to start playing word games regularly could actually improve their brain function."




     "This new research does reveal a link between word puzzles, like crosswords, and memory and thinking skills, but we can't say definitively that regular 'puzzling' improves these skills. To be able to say for sure, the crucial next step is to test if there are benefits in people who take up word puzzles."

       Looks like Will Shortz took up a good profession. No puzzle there.

What do you think, cruciverbalists all? 

{I see a few holes in the study, but every good crossword puzzle needs a few holes/black squares, eh?}
Steph

33 comments:

  1. Those Brits like to study everything medical! That's what happens when you have those darn government paid health plans!!

    Obviously they aren't accounting for the cryptic puzzles from the Times of London, each of which adds years of frustration. At least for some of us dumb "Murricans".

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  2. Here's my favorite recent British medical report.

    I thought it had long been established that doing crossword puzzles regularly makes your brain better at doing crossword puzzles.

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  3. Grammatical reasoning speed? I am not entirely sure what that means or how it is measured...

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    Replies
    1. To quote Homer Simpson: "It doesn't mean anything. It's like Rama Lama Ding-dong or Give Peace a Chance."

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    2. Yes, indeed, holes in the study, Joanne, and in the presentation of the data. . .

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    3. It's measured in GRSs. . .;-)

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  4. 40 years ago, at Bell Labs, we used a computer-controlled x-ray micro beam system to study speech production. The subject had metal pellets glued to parts of the articulatory apparatus -- lips, teeth, tongue, palate, etc -- and the computer moved the x- ray beam to track the movements of the pellets during speech.

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    1. Any exciting revelations from your study?

      Seems like the pellets themselves might affect the speech. . .

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    2. Apparently, the data were very useful for speech researchers

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  5. Replies
    1. I'd like s'more accidents like that.

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    2. Absolutely.

      "Fondue pot" sounds like the name for a new strain of chocolate edibles.

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    3. I remember once driving in a fierce Florida thunderstorm, behind a truck loaded with nitrous oxide, hoping for a little accident...

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    4. I KNEW there was a cartoon in the back of my mind.

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  6. Best sign at today's protest against Betsy De Vos in Denver: "Stop the DeVosTation!"

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  7. Replies
    1. 1. Who plays in the dirt? Kids.

      2. Who would be more likely to notice something unusual? A kid, or someone who's been around since the dinosaurs, and is therefore used to them?

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    2. But, it's not a dinosaur. . .

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  8. Is saying cross words as good for brain function as solving crosswords?

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    Replies
    1. Like cedar, pine, cyprus? ;-)

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    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    3. Perhaps cross laminated timber is the answer.

      Meanwhile, it's always the right time for 1980's music!!! With lines like:

      Facts are simple and facts are straight
      Facts are lazy and facts are late
      Facts all come with points of view
      Facts don't do what I want them to
      Facts just twist the truth around
      Facts are living turned inside out
      Facts are getting the best of them
      Facts are nothing on the face of things


      it's like they knew Kelly Anne Conway >30 years ago.

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    4. Or at a cross roads. I have some old cross pens somewhere around here. Fountains of opportunities.

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    5. Crisscrossing the globe, no doubt.

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  9. New post on "DNA of Ancient Canaanites: Levant, Lebanon, and Lines" is now up.

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