What’s The (Grey) Matter?

How exercising the brain through puzzles and riddles can increase mental fitness and improve concentration.

Now, as a solid ‘right brainer’ it labours me to explore this. I have a decidedly fixed mindset and lack of resilience to problem solving (not something that serves me well in adulting, I must admit).

Never one to forgo a challenge, I investigate further.

Neurobic exercises. ‘Keeping your brain alive’. Neurobics, or brain gym as it is more affectionately known, uses our five physical senses and emotional judgement to strengthen, preserve and grow brain cells.

Not only reserved for newspaper crossword lovers, the last century has seen a rise in puzzles for pleasure, tickling our old grey cells. Turns out the 70s Rubik’s cubes were not designed as paper weights. Sales of puzzles have soared as we continue to seek self improvement and preserve our health. Solving puzzles is a fun way to boost brain power and improve concentration. The mental stimulation of these tasks energises the brain, leaving us feeling rejuvenated.

It turns out the mathematicians were on to something. Dr Doug Brown of the Alzheimer’s Society, says: “With a rapidly ageing population, evidence that brain training has a tangible benefit on cognitive function is truly significant.”

After 40 years of age, our brains start shrinking at 5% per decade. Working on puzzles reinforces the connections between our brain cells — and form new ones — so they are a great way to improve short-term memory.

Modern life often means many people have forgotten how to think; we want instant results with limited exertion. We worry that complex riddles will take us over capacity and ‘stress us out’ when, in fact, the reverse is true and continuing to work on difficult tasks sharpens our thinking prowess.

Perhaps the modern millennial takes issue with the branding — plying yourself with more ‘problems’ to ‘solve’ feels counter-intuitive and triggers our neuroses around not being able to cope. If the language were softer, maybe we wouldn’t feel so scared of ‘failing’ to complete the Sudoku, retreating back to our husk of no confidence. Wellness marketers can thank me later.

On a more relatable level, puzzles and problem solving can help distract us from irrational worries and be an enjoyable way to whittle away hours which may have otherwise been spent catastrophising. Sorting and counting activities can help realign the focus of an anxious mind and leave us with a nice big hit of dopamine when we complete the task.

Why not give a puzzle or a riddle a go this week?

Happy Monday 🙂