While social interaction has proven to be a major factor in improving cognitive health, other components of trivia, such as learning new facts and recalling older information, can also be significant, says Professor Scott Brown from the University of Newcastle.
"Practicing pub trivia helps maintain our cognitive reserve, which is especially important as we age because it can provide a buffer against cognitive decline and other forms of dementia. It's the 'use it or lose it' notion, where if we keep doing these activities to work our cognitive muscles, it keeps them from atrophying early," he explains.