“Playing cards and board games like chess, bingo and Scrabble might be the mental workout you need to keep your wits as you age, Scottish researchers suggest.
People in their 70s who regularly play board games score higher on tests of memory and thinking skills than those who don’t. And 70-somethings who step up their game-playing are more likely to maintain thinking skills as they age, researchers say … Unlike reading, writing, taking classes, visiting museums, libraries or friends and relatives, games appear to more actively engage abilities like memory, thinking speed and reasoning, Altschul said. “So, this fits with what we call the ‘use it or lose it’ theory, that exercising your mental abilities more keeps them in better shape,” he said …
People who played more games as they got older had less decline in mental skills in their 70s, particularly in memory function and thinking speed, researchers found.”
“These latest findings add to evidence that being more engaged in activities during the life course might be associated with better thinking skills in later life. For those in their 70s or beyond, another message seems to be that playing non-digital games may be a positive behaviour in terms of reducing cognitive decline.”
Dr. Drew Altschul at the University of Edinburgh’s School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences
Playing Analog Games Is Associated With Reduced Declines in Cognitive Function: A 68-Year Longitudinal Cohort Study (The Journals of Gerontology: Series B). From the abstract:
- Objectives: Playing analog games may be associated with better cognitive function but, to date, these studies have not had extensive longitudinal follow-up. Our goal was to examine the association between playing games and change in cognitive function from age 11 to age 70, and from age 70 to 79.
- Method: Participants were 1,091 nonclinical, independent, community-dwelling individuals all born in 1936 and residing in Scotland. General cognitive function was assessed at ages 11 and 70, and hierarchical domains were assessed at ages 70, 73, 76, and 79 using a comprehensive cognitive battery of 14 tests. Games playing behaviors were assessed at ages 70 and 76. All models controlled for early life cognitive function, education, social class, sex, activity levels, and health issues. All analyses were preregistered.
- Results: Higher frequency of playing games was associated with higher cognitive function at age 70, controlling for age 11 cognitive function, and the majority of this association could not be explained by control variables. Playing more games was also associated with less general cognitive decline from age 70 to age 79, and in particularly, less decline in memory ability. Increased games playing between 70 and 76 was associated with less decline in cognitive speed.
- Discussion: Playing games were associated with less relative cognitive decline from age 11 to age 70, and less cognitive decline from age 70 to 79. Controlling for age 11 cognitive function and other confounders, these findings suggest that playing more games is linked to reduced lifetime decline in cognitive function.
The Study in Context:
- Can you grow your hippocampus? Yes. Here’s how, and why it matters
- How learning changes your brain
- Solving the Brain Fitness Puzzle Is the Key to Self-Empowered Aging
- Can brain training work? Yes, if it meets these 5 conditions
- What are cognitive abilities and how to boost them?
- Fun Brain Teasers for Adults of Any Age