So, to be showing an improvement in cognition at both 12 and 78 weeks is quite impressive. The other thing to keep in mind is that about half of people with mild cognitive impairment show declines in thinking and memory over time. This means that crossword puzzles can improve thinking and memory almost as much as an FDA-approved memory-enhancing medication. In fact, 37% of those doing crossword puzzles did show at least a two-point improvement. That may not sound like much, but the FDA approval for drugs that improve thinking and memory in people with Alzheimer’s disease ( cholinesterase inhibitors) was based on a two-point difference on this scale. They also engaged in several shorter booster sessions.Ĭompared to their baseline performance on a 70-point scale, crossword puzzles improved participants’ cognition by about one point at the 12-week timepoint, and by about half a point at the 78-week timepoint. Each group completed 30-minute sessions four times weekly for 12 weeks. Study participants were randomly assigned to either a group that solved online crossword puzzles or a group that played online cognitive games focused on memory, processing speed, and executive function. How much did crossword puzzles benefit thinking and memory? Future studies in healthy older adults will need to be conducted with crossword puzzles as the intervention to gather more evidence. The authors of the study point out that crossword puzzles are typically used as a control condition against which other interventions are measured. Will doing crossword puzzles regularly be helpful for you if your thinking and memory are normal? My best guess is that it will, but we don’t know for sure. Those who took part in the study were highly educated, with most participants having a college education. Twenty-five percent identified as Black or Latino, and thus - at least regarding race and ethnicity - the results are likely generalizable to the population of the US. All had mild cognitive impairment, which means that their thinking and memory were impaired compared to healthy older adults. The participants in this 18-month study were between 62 and 80 years of age. Will doing crossword puzzles help everyone? Is this result for real? Can doing crossword puzzles really make you sharper and keep your brain from shrinking? Let’s dive into this study to understand the results and see how you can apply them to your life. A study published in NEJM Evidence found that people with mild memory problems who did web-based crossword puzzles showed improvement in cognition and experienced less brain shrinkage, compared to those who played web-based cognitive games.
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