‘That’s a very strong statement,” cautions Roxi Carare, professor of clinical neuroanatomy at the University of Southampton. “A more appropriate way to put it is: puzzles help delay the onset and worsening of the symptoms of dementia.”
Dementia is an umbrella term for conditions that lead to a decline in cognitive function. Some kinds have been linked to poor waste removal from the brain.
“Any time we perform a task, the area of the brain responsible for that task needs more blood,” says Carare. “That forces the blood vessels to open up and feed the brain. When they do, they also help clear waste. For both processes to work, the vessel walls need to be flexible.”
Doing a puzzle stimulates blood flow, even to slightly compromised vessels in the brain, which helps maintain functions
Genetics, conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes, as well as lifestyle choices such as smoking and poor diet, can lead to a stiffening of these walls, making the brain less efficient at getting nutrients in and clearing toxins out.
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That’s where puzzles come in. “When you do a puzzle, you engage different areas of the brain – vision, association, memory,” Carare says. “That stimulates blood flow to those areas, even in slightly compromised vessels, which helps maintain functions.”
There are also psychological benefits, especially for elderly people: puzzles provide a sense of achievement, which promotes wellbeing; and doing them with others can reduce loneliness, which is “a terrible thing for age-related diseases”, Carare adds.
We all benefit from a lifestyle aligned with better brain health: prioritising movement, a nutritious diet, and activities that fire up multiple parts of the brain and involve other people. (Things like walking with a friend, dance classes and going to exhibitions are all beneficial.) If you’re genetically predisposed to dementia, these choices won’t stop it, Carare says, “but the symptoms may appear later compared with someone who doesn’t do any of this”.
