Families and individuals can both take pleasure in puzzle solving. All puzzles have one thing in common: they exercise your brain. It doesn’t matter if your chosen challenge is a 1,000-piece jigsaw, the Sunday crossword puzzle from the New York Times, a wooden brain teaser, or a 3D mechanical puzzle. Despite having a very long history, puzzles are still incredibly popular in the digital age.
Puzzles have been around since the beginning of time and take many different shapes. Riddles, puzzle jugs from Cyprus dating to 1700 BCE, and magic squares making their debut in China around 700 BCE are all mentioned in the Bible. In the modern age, John Spilsbury created the jigsaw puzzle in 1767, crossword puzzles first appeared in newspapers in 1913, and the Rubik’s Cube was created in 1974. There are countless different sorts and styles of puzzles.
Did you realize that puzzles can also be good for adult brains? We are all aware of how beneficial puzzles are for children’s physical and mental development. There are seven specific ways that puzzles are good for your brain. So get your pencils sharpened, clear the coffee table, and get ready for a mental lift.
Puzzles Develop Both Sides of Your Brain
Your two hemispheres each govern many aspects of your brain. The right side of your brain controls creativity, whereas the left side controls rational and analytical cognition. Your brain is working hard because you are using all of its surfaces when you solve a puzzle.
They Improve Memory
Because they make new connections and enhance existing ones, puzzles are a great way to improve short-term memory. We are employing memory to complete the puzzle when we recollect the shapes, sizes, and pieces from a jigsaw puzzle and visualize how they go together. According to studies, making new connections in the brain helps minimize the brain damage experienced by Alzheimer’s patients.
They Enhance Spatial Awareness, Vision, and Mental Acuity
You must be able to visualize the arrangement of the pieces or the words in their proper positions when looking at individual crossword or jigsaw puzzle components. Performing this regularly may enhance your visual and spatial thinking abilities, making you a better driver and possibly a Tetris-like packer, according to USA Today (especially when loading your car to take a college-age child to school).
They Improve Your Mood
Dopamine, a neurotransmitter that regulates mood, memory, and focus, is one neurochemical that puzzles and helps the brain produce greater amounts. Dopamine is created each time we solve a challenge. Why do puzzles appeal to us so much?
Your Levels of Stress Are Lower
Puzzle solving not only helps our brains, but they also have a relaxing effect. While we are trying to figure out how to solve the problem, our minds are exclusively focused on one action, which stimulates our brains.
Your IQ May Increase as a Result
Because they improve our memory, focus, language, and reasoning skills, puzzles raise our IQ scores. According to research from the University of Michigan, puzzle solving for at least 25 minutes each day can boost intelligence by 4 points.
