Do Crosswords it’s better for curb memory loss than video games designed to improve cognitive performance. That’s the conclusion of a new study by researchers at Columbia University and Duke University published in the journal NEJM Evidence.
In a randomized, controlled trial led by DP Devanand, professor of psychiatry and neurology at Columbia, with Murali Doraiswamy, professor of psychiatry and medicine at Duke, researchers found that participants, average age 71, who solved crossword puzzles website demonstrated a greater cognitive enhancement than those who were trained with cognitive video games.
“This is the first study to document both the short-term and long-term benefits of crossword puzzle training at home compared to another intervention. The results are important in light of the difficulty in showing improvements with interventions in mild cognitive impairment,” says Dr. Devanand, who oversees brain aging and mental health research at Columbia.
Crossword puzzles are widely used, but have not been systematically studied in the world. mild cognitive impairmentwhich is associated with a high risk of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease.
To conduct their study, the Columbia and Duke researchers randomly assigned 107 participants with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to two different groups: crossword puzzles or cognitive video games, with intensive training for 12 weeks followed by booster sessions of up to 78 weeks. Both interventions were carried out through a computerized platform with weekly compliance monitoring.
Crossword puzzles were superior to video games in the measurement of primary cognitive outcomes, using the ADAS-Cog (Alzheimer’s Disease Cognitive Assessment Scale), both at 12 weeks and at 78 weeks. Crossword puzzlers were superior in FAQs, a measure of daily functioning, at 78 weeks.
Furthermore, crossword puzzles were superior for participants at a more advanced stage of the disease, but both forms of training were equally effective at an earlier stage.
On the other hand, the brain shrinkagemeasured by MRI, was lower in the crossword puzzle group at 78 weeks.
“The benefits were seen not only in cognition but also in daily activities where there were indications of brain shrinkage on MRI, suggesting that the effects are clinically significant,” says Dr. Devanand.
Two strengths of the trial are the 28% participation rate of people from racial and ethnic minority groups and the low dropout rate (15%) for such a long in-home trial. However, a limitation of the study was the absence of a control group who did not receive cognitive training.
While these are very encouraging results, the authors stress the need to replicate them in a larger controlled trial with an inactive control group.
“The trifecta of improve cognition, function, and neuroprotection it is the Holy Grail for the field. Further research to elevate brain training to a digital therapy at home to delay Alzheimer’s should be a priority,” Dr. Doraiswamy concludes.