Wordle, one of the newest activities to come out of life during the pandemic, has become increasingly popular with all generations. The basic premise is a game in which the user has six chances to guess a five-letter word. This once-a-day game is typically used as a brain teaser exercise by its users. While it doesn’t directly make your brain smarter, the effects of playing it do prove positive.
First, it provides you with a challenge to overcome. Every user does this differently by using their own strategizing methods. This simple presentation of a challenge already increases blood flow, and in turn, can have positive outcomes on one’s mental abilities. It is important not to go into it with the hope of “stopping your brain from aging” or “becoming smarter,” but research proves that participating in games like Wordle can improve cognitive function.
According to a May 2019 article about a study by Dr. Anne Corbett of the University of Exeter Medical School in England, the more often people engage with puzzles, the sharper their performance is across a range of tasks assessing memory, attention and reasoning. The improvements are particularly clear in the speed and accuracy of their performance. Research can’t definitively say that playing these puzzles necessarily reduces the risk of dementia in later life, but data supports previous findings that indicate regular use of word and number puzzles helps keep brains working better for longer.
It is important to continue to exercise your brain, just like any other muscle. An article published by Harvard Medical School in May 2020 stated that “challenging your brain with mental exercise is believed to activate processes that help maintain individual brain cells and stimulate communication among them.”
Participating in games like Wordle and Scrabble, while not only being enjoyable pastimes, will benefit your mind’s overall health in ways you may not even realize. If you haven’t checked out Wordle, just search for it online for the daily puzzle, and there is always the daily newspaper for the traditional puzzles to give your brain some regular exercise.
Sources:
https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/6-simple-steps-to-keep-your-mind-sharp-at-any-age
http://www.exeter.ac.uk/news/featurednews/title_716265_en.html