The Total Brain Workout

Crosswords, Sudoku, anagrams, brainteasers, trivia challenges—the list goes on! These terms are known to virtually everyone. But what you may not know is that such apparently "trivial amusements" also foster brain growth by stimulating logical and creative thinking regions of the brain. Research has, in fact, come forward recently to suggest (although not prove beyond a shadow of a doubt) that puzzles sharpen the mind, improve memory and keep the brain fit throughout life, especially in later life.As a boomer myself reaching the so-called twilight years, and a puzzle addict since my childhood, I welcome this news. If puzzles are to the brain what physical exercise is to the body, then let's do puzzles—not just for fun, but, more importantly, for brain fitness.As a professor of anthropology at the University of Toronto, I became fascinated by the ancientness of puzzles and their constant use in cultures throughout the world as tests of intelligence and creative imagination. As a result, I conducted research on puzzles and wrote a number of scholarly books on the topic, finding out in the process how truly ingenious and productive the "puzzle instinct" is in ... read full excerpt from: The Total Brain Workout ebook