Puzzles, brain-training games and hobbies have long been said to stave off cognitive decline. But while some research has shown that intensive brain-training programmes done over several weeks can reduce cognitive impairment, such interventions aren’t very practical in daily life.
So my team and I decided to explore whether doing brief brain-stimulating activities could improve cognitive health. Our large-scale trial found that doing activities such as crossword puzzles, reading, listening to music, brain-training games or learning a new skill can have a significant effect on maintaining cognitive function. And, in some cases, these activities were even shown to reverse cognitive impairment.
