Most people want to maintain or even improve their cognition. Some aspects of this form of self-improvement are obvious. If you want to be more knowledgeable, then the answer is study. If you want to broaden your horizons, then you seek out new experiences and follow up on them through book learning. However, what about the actual process of cognition itself? How do you train your mind to function more swiftly, strongly, and enduringly? You might be surprised to find that the answer is something you’ve certainly done before – puzzles. The following methods can be used to leverage puzzles for long-term cognitive benefit.

1. Starting Young

Did you like puzzles as a kid? If so, you already have a good foundation. Research shows that younger children who play with puzzles will have stronger spatial transformation skills. This means a greater understanding of how individual elements fit into the larger environment. That might sound like a small thing at first. However, spatial understanding is one of the larger elements of human cognition. Understanding the world, learning through experience, and applying abstract knowledge in practical, real-world ways typically requires spatial understanding.

2. Building and Strengthening Your Mental Foundation

Don’t think that the benefits stop at childhood. Research on adults has shown even greater improvements. One important point of these studies is the sheer scope of benefits seen with the puzzles. Researchers have found that puzzles help develop, strengthen, and preserve multiple cognitive abilities. This fact highlights the significance of the earlier development of spatial cognition as a more unifying factor for thought in general. In many ways, the world is a puzzle, so people who make a hobby out of solving puzzles have naturally predisposed themselves to success in cognitive challenges. Some specific examples of cognitive abilities strengthened by puzzles include visual perception, constructional praxis, mental rotation, cognitive flexibility, and perceptional reasoning.

3. Grow Older With Puzzles While Strengthening Your Emotional Intelligence

With everything noted so far, it seems self-apparent that puzzles would help stave off the mental decline often seen with aging. And there is truth to the idea. Puzzles have been shown to decrease the risk of dementia while also helping people fight against its symptoms. Part of this effect comes from the prior development of a strong cognitive foundation. People who have greater mental capability often prove more resistant to later cognitive decline. However, there’s also another element to the protective effect of puzzles.

Puzzles are a great way to manage the kind of stress that often poses a risk to cognitive stability over time. Stress is a kind of continual strain that can wear away at people’s cognitive potential. It’s like trying to carry a weight without ever giving yourself a chance to rest. Fun cognitive challenges give your mind a chance to rest and enjoy healthier exercise. Just like with physical endurance, the mind needs a chance to rest up and turn experiences into growth through relaxation. Puzzles are a way to relax while also strengthening your cognitive abilities.

Published by: Khy Talara