How to keep sharp — with puzzles!
Caribbean L 42 ife, DECEMBER 6-12, 2019
Vascular Institute of New York
960 50th St.between Ninth and
10th avenues in Borough Park,
(718) 438–3800, www.vascularnyc.com.
Open every day, 8 am – 5 pm.
Additional locations: 5801 Woodside
Ave., Queens; 97-32 63rd Rd.,
Queens; 432 E. 149th St. in the
Bronx.
Health
Puzzles are fun and entertaining, but their benefi
ts go beyond simple recreation. In fact, playing and
solving puzzles on a regular basis can benefi t adults
and children in various ways.
Puzzles often stimulate problem-solving centers
in the brain and can improve brain health. Researchers
have found that, by completing crossword
puzzles, playing challenging games or doing other
puzzle-related activities, individuals may be less
likely to develop brain plaques that have been tied to
Alzheimer’s disease. Data published in the Archives
of Neurology found a distinct connection between
people who exercised their minds with stimulating
activities in their early and middle years and brain
health. This group had less Beta-amyloid protein uptake
in their brains, which is linked to the onset of
Alzheimer’s, than those who didn’t engage in puzzles
during the same time frame.
Beyond their health benefi ts, puzzles offer some
additional perks.
• Puzzles boost vocabulary. Puzzles such as crosswords
or codewords/cryptograms introduce people
to new words. This helps people expand their vocabulary
and can help them improve their spelling.
• Puzzles teach patience. Puzzles can be challenging,
and such challenges can promote patience in regard
to approaching and realizing goals.
• Puzzles can reinforce lessons. Teaching through
puzzle play is an effective way to tap into memory retention
while making lessons fun.
• Puzzles may improve intelligence. Engaging
in puzzles can force players to think and reason using
general knowledge, memory, spatial imagery,
and logic. These skills help to sharpen intellect over
time. Researchers at the University of Michigan even
found that adults could boost their IQs by four points
after spending 25 minutes a day doing puzzles.
• Puzzles reinforce concentration. Concentration
is required to fi nd words hidden in a word search
puzzle or to solve a brainteaser. According to data
on SelfGrowth.com, puzzles naturally induce a state
of creative, focused meditation.
• Puzzles improve visual-spatial reasoning. When
solving a jigsaw puzzle or working one’s way through
a maze, players have to look at different shapes and
fi gure out where they fi t within the larger picture.
Better visual-spacial skills can help with packing,
driving and using a map and can be valuable career
tools in fi elds such as architecture.
Puzzles are a fun recreational activity that also
can boost brain health.
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/www.vascularnyc.com
/SelfGrowth.com