Crossword puzzles beat computer video games in slowing memory loss
Study finds adults with mild cognitive decline assigned puzzles showed less brain shrinkage, better daily functioning
IMAGE: COLUMBIA-DUKE STUDY SHOWS CROSSWORD PUZZLERS, AS COMPARED TO COGNITIVE GAMERS DEMONSTRATED MORE IMPROVEMENT IN ENGAGEMENT, LESS BRAIN SHRINKAGE. view more CREDIT: COLUMBIA UNIVERSITYA new study by researchers from Columbia University and Duke University published in the journal NEJM Evidence shows that doing crossword puzzles has an advantage over computer video games for memory functioning in older adults with mild cognitive impairment.In a randomized, controlled trial, led by D.P. Devanand, MD, professor of psychiatry and neurology at Columbia, with Murali Doraiswamy, MD, professor of psychiatry and medicine at Duke, researchers determined that participants (average age 71) trained in doing web-based crossword puzzles demonstrated greater cognitive improvement than those who were trained on cognitive video games. ?This is the first study to document both short-term and longer-term benefits for home-based crossword puzzles training compared to another intervention,? said Dr. Devanand, who oversees brain aging and mental health research at Columbia. ?The results are important in light of difficulty in showing improvement with interventions in mild cognitive impairment.?Crossword puzzles are widely used but have not been studied systematically in mild cognitive impairment, which is associated w...
