Solving Sudoku or crossword puzzles does not stop mental decline: Study

Regular problem solving can boost mental ability over a lifetime

crossword-puzzle-oldman Doing crosswords can help boost mental ability over a lifetime, but they may not help to prevent dementia

Researchers in the UK found regularly working at problem-solving games like crossword puzzles and Sudoku does not guard against mental decline in later life.

Existing research has suggested that mental ability can be maintained or improved by problem-solving games such as Sudoku and crossword puzzles. These studies say that reading from an early age, playing board games and playing musical instruments at least twice a week is linked with reduced risk of dementia.

A new study, published in The BMJ, suggests that regularly engaging in intellectual activities boosts mental ability over a lifetime and provides a "higher cognitive point" from which to decline.

The sample involved 498 participants who were all born in 1936 and had all taken part in a group intelligence test at the age of 11. They were around 64 years old at the start of the study. Researchers used data from the archives of the Scottish Council for Research in Education, which had maintained population-based records of the Scottish Mental Surveys of 1947.

However, there is 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, they said.

The study proved that engaging in intellectually stimulating activities on a regular basis was linked to the level of mental ability in old age, having the largest association with improving cognitive performance during the course of life.

Dr Staff, Honorary lecturer at the University of Aberdeen and Head of Medical Physics at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, suggests that while those who regularly engage in problem solving puzzles could potentially enhance their mental ability, this does not “protect an individual from decline but imparts a higher starting point from which decline is observed”.