With populations living longer and surviving diseases that in the past would have been fatal, another age-related condition has become more prevalent – dementia.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that about 55 million people are living with the disease around the world – but can anything be done to prevent it?
The Alzheimer’s Society estimates that there are 850,000 people with dementia in the UK, a figure that is projected to rise to 1.6 million by 2040.
At the moment, there is no cure for the condition and no real way of treating it, although research is continuing all the time.
Its main symptoms are focused around cognitive function, and are listed by the NHS as:
- Memory loss
- Difficulty concentrating
- Finding it hard to carry out familiar daily tasks
- Struggling to follow a conversation
- Being confused about time and place
- Mood changes
However, while there is no cure or treatment as yet, some fields of research believe that brain training can help prevent dementia from occurring in the first place.
What is brain training?
Just as we exercise our bodies to keep them healthy, so many scientists believe we need to exercise our minds too – a case of use it or lose it.
As such, they encourage taking part in regular mental activities designed to help maintain or even increase a person’s cognitive abilities, such as attention, reasoning and problem solving.
Such activities include puzzles such as sudoku or crosswords, playing video games, staying socially engaged and taking part in creative pursuits, such as painting or music.
Indeed, only a few years ago headlines were full of the news that regularly doing crosswords regularly would protect puzzlers from dementia – so how accurate is it?
Does it work?
The Alzheimer’s Society says no, at the moment, although obviously there is no harm in keeping the mind as active as possible in older age.
“So far, no studies have shown that brain training prevents dementia. However, this is a relatively new area of research and most studies have been too small and too short to test any effect of brain training on the development of cognitive decline or dementia.
“Evidence suggests that brain training may help older people to manage their daily tasks better, but longer term studies are needed to understand what effect, if any, these activities may have on a person’s likelihood of developing dementia.”
However, the original idea did come from observational studies that suggested that people who took part in cognitively stimulating activities may have a lower risk of cognitive decline and dementia in older age.
But with no control, it is impossible to say that the brain training activities were directly responsible for lower rates of dementia.
How can brain training help?
While brain training cannot definitely prevent dementia, it can sharpen cognitive skills. As the Alzheimer’s Society says: “Some studies have found that cognitive training can improve some aspects of memory and thinking, particularly for people who are middle-aged or older.”
A 2019 study for the charity also found that older adults who regularly took part in word and number puzzles have better brain function, according to research in more than 19,000 participants, led by the University of Exeter and King’s College London.
However, it did not definitively link better brain function with reduced risk of dementia.
These findings were echoed by a further study involving more than 2,800 adults aged 65 and older, who attended up to 10 hour-long brain-training sessions for five to six weeks. The sessions focused on improving memory, reasoning and the speed of processing information.
People who took part in the training showed improvement in these skills that lasted for at least five years, and they also improved at everyday tasks, such as the ability to manage money and do housework – beneficial at any age.
Conversely, further studies suggest that mental decline can be faster, post-diagnosis, in those people who have taken part in brain training.
Some research has noted that, once people have started displaying Alzheimer’s symptoms, mental decline may actually speed up in those who kept their minds engaged. One theory behind this is that it is possible that being mentally active bolstered the brain at first, so symptoms did not show until later.
In conclusion
Sadly, there is no definitive evidence to say that regular crosswords or other puzzles can actively prevent dementia.
However, just like our physical bodies, there is research to suggest that the more we boost our brain power throughout our lives, the better.
Puzzles also have real mood-boosting effects, increasing the production of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that regulates mood, memory, and concentration, which is released with every success as we solve the puzzle.
So, while they may not prevent dementia in any significant way, brain training puzzles have a host of other benefits for our minds and mental health.