Alzheimer's Club

"It's hard to read the newspaper, take the subway, grab a cup of coffee or even mill around the watercooler without seeing or hearing about the latest national craze called Sudoku.

Publication of the first such logic-based number-placement puzzle occurred in an American magazine in 1979. However, Sudoku - short for Japanese words meaning "only single numbers allowed" - didn't really catch on until 1986 in Japan and till 2005 back in the U.S., as well as the rest of the globe. The first Sudoku world championship is scheduled to take place in Lucca, Italy, in March.

(Sudoku should not be confused with another similar-sounding Japanese word, "sodoku," or spirillum fever, which one can contract from a rat's bite.)

Why Do We Like A Tease? Many enthusiasts say the numbers game is highly addictive. But is trying to solve Sudoku puzzles and other brainteasers a way to keep one's mind young and active? Or is it simply a way to pass time?

There are several reasons why we do puzzles. The main reason, however, experts say is because puzzles give us a sense of being in control.

Most challenges in life can seem like they don't have solutions (and some don't). This can be frustrating. Brain teasers, on the other hand, are solvable - which boosts self-esteem and gives the solver a sense of accomplishment.

In addition, advocates of mental games say that by regularly exercising the mind, you keep it in good condition.

"Challenging one's brain in novel ways - such as with brainteasers - helps to increase stimulation and can be potentially beneficial to one's long-term mental functioning," said John M. Grohol, Psy.D., co-chair of the Mental Health Channel for Revolution Health Group's Medical Advisory Board.

Senior citizens and young people may benefit the most from cerebral amusements, according to experts.

Neurons: "You're Fired!" A recent study from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland found that neurons in seniors' dormant brain cells are activated by the mental stimulation involved with such games and exercises. This, in turn, could help the brain function better in old age and fight off disease.

In students, such problem-solving puzzles not only expand their knowledge and vocabularies, but they also sculpt extra grooves in their young, impressionable, cauliflower-shaped gray-and-white-mattered organs.

Many youth have taken their "brainiac" passions a step further and transformed their hobbies into full-fledged sporting activities.

Leyan Lo, a 20-year-old student at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, recently set a record time at a competition held by his school's Rubik's Cube Club. Lo solved the puzzle in 11 seconds. This topped a previous record of 11.75 seconds by Frenchman Jean Pons, who clocked the time at last year's Dutch Open.

Despite the record-setting time, Lo was unable to win the overall championship, succumbing to 15-year-old Shotaro "Macky" Makisumi, considered by many to be the fastest Rubik's Cube solver in the world. He is a 15-year-old Japanese national who's currently attending the Polytechnic School in Pasadena, Calif.

What was Macky's secret to winning so many matches in a row on his way to clinching the title? "I don't know. Faster first two layers," he told reporters, referring to his strategy of completing the first two layers of the puzzle before moving on to the last.

It's All In Your Head Besides "going for the gold," psychologists say there are other benefits to challenging yourself to master mind games.

"Children and seniors can both benefit from brainteasers because research has shown that when looking at the brain through an MRI or a CAT scan, brainteasers actually cause the neurons to fire faster, therefore increasing brain activity," said Dale Robinson, R.N., a Brain Gym instructor at the Tallahassee Senior Center in Florida.

"That being said, brainteasers can be very beneficial to anyone, as can other creative puzzles, movement, dancing and reading, to name a few," he added.

Grohol concurred. "It is generally understood that intellectual or mental stimulation may improve mental functioning," he said.

But not all agree with this assessment. Margaret Gatz, a psychology professor at the University of Southern California, has written an article published by the San Francisco-based Public Library of Science that offered a different take. Too much concentration is placed on cognitive fitness and its benefits, Gatz said, particularly in those with Alzheimer's disease.

"If mental exercise is widely believed to prevent [Alzheimer's], then individuals who do become demented may be blamed for their disease on the grounds of not having exercised their brains enough," she said.

Robinson agreed with the University of Edinburgh study and that brainteasers and similar word and mathematics riddles do have the ability to awaken brain cells that were dormant before play began. "Research is showing more and more that using movement and doing brainteasers increases the overall health of your brain," he said.

Meanwhile, scientists keep running experiments and churning out their study findings. But for a majority of the game players, puzzles like Sudoku are less about brain development and much more about the challenge - and, yes, the fun."

Source: Brainteasers, time-wasters? myDNA News (22 February 2006) [FullText]