Puzzles, especially visual brain teasers, are a big part of internet culture. Maybe you remember the debate over the gold and white dress. Maybe you insist (wrongly!) the dress is blue and black. My favorite is the classic “is this a picture of Wolverine, or two Batmans kissing?” So, if you enjoy love visual brain teasers too, read up on some of the ways you’re doing yourself a big favor! If nothing else, you can dazzle your boss with the science behind playing these games on company time.
Brain Teasers And Neuroplasticity
One of the most important definitions for the brain health game is neuroplasticity. According to Scientific American, neuroplasticity is your “brain’s ability to change itself by remodeling nerve cell connections after experience.” There are a lot of great examples of how this works in action. For instance, the more education a person has in their youth, the longer they stay cognitively fit. That means there’s a lesser chance of them having dementia when they reach their senior years. It seems logical that brain games would help too, right? Well, that’s what’s behind many of the studies. Conventional wisdom has it that you can keep your neuroplasticity high by “remaining healthy, active, and engaged in the world around you.” If that’s all it takes, should you trade in your sudoku for another gym membership? (1)
The Mayo Clinic And The “Brain Fitness Program”
Glenn Smith was the leader of a Mayo Clinic study on how well brain training actually worked. She and her fellow scientists gathered almost 500 people between 67 and 93. Some of them did an 8-week brain boot camp at the Posit Science Brain Fitness Program. The others did more traditional cognitive work, like watching educational videos. At the end of the study, a remarkable difference emerged. All the participants were “cognitively normal older adults,” but those “who trained their brain were able to improve their auditory information processing speed by about 58 percent (versus 7 percent in controls.)”
Additionally, 48% of people who did the Brain Fitness program noticed positive real-life effects. They had more self-confidence, they could remember things better, and they could pay more attention to conversations that happened around lots of external stimuli. (1)
Pattern-Based Brain Teasers
Ian Krajbich and Arkady Konovalov co-authored a study, in a journal called Neuron, on pattern recognition and cognition. Krajbich is an assistant professor of psychology and economics at Ohio State University. Arkady Konovalov is a postdoctoral student at the University of Zurich. He was also at Ohio State for his Ph.D.
“They are learning patterns and developing rules that guide their decision and make them faster and more accurate,” says Konovalov.
“One interpretation is that people may be getting a sense of reward for figuring out whether there is a pattern or not,” says Krajibich. “We don’t know that for sure yet, but it is plausible.” So, in pictures like these, where you’re finding the number that doesn’t fit in with the pattern? Not only are you making your brain better at decision-making, you’re giving yourself a mental treat! (2)
