{"id":19575,"date":"2022-04-04T14:00:23","date_gmt":"2022-04-04T19:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thepapergown.zocdoc.com\/?p=19575"},"modified":"2023-03-08T13:57:12","modified_gmt":"2023-03-08T18:57:12","slug":"wordle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/blog\/healthcare-trends\/wordle\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Your Daily Wordle Making You Smarter?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Humans love a good game. During the pandemic, <\/span>board games<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>puzzles<\/span><\/a> and other novelties flew off the shelves. More recently came Wordle, a blockbuster daily challenge that quickly became internet-famous and was scooped up by none other than the <\/span>New York Times<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The tech industry has taken our favorite pastimes even more seriously, with the launch of \u201cbrain-training\u201d games, like Lumosity\u2019s \u201cmental fitness\u201d games and activities, meant to improve memory, attention and other cognitive abilities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite their popularity, much of the research behind these brain-training games has been disputed. In 2016, Lumosity had to pay the Federal Trade Commission $2 million to settle <\/span>deceptive advertising claims<\/span><\/a>, such as those stating the product could help users perform better at work and in school and prevent cognitive impairment linked to age and other serious health conditions, like dementia.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Lumosity simply did not have the science to back up its ads,\u201d <\/span>Jessica Rich<\/span><\/a>, then-director of the FTC\u2019s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said at the time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Even years later, the science surrounding games and puzzles\u2019 effect on our brains remains complicated. As a <\/span>2014 statement<\/span><\/a> from the Stanford Center on Longevity notes, \u201c<\/span>Like many challenging scientific topics, this is a devil of many details.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So what\u2019s the consensus?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The general research on brain training is up in the air. While Wordle hasn\u2019t been around long enough for us to make any sweeping statements about its impact on the human psyche, there\u2019s other evidence that some ways people engage with the world can prevent cognitive decline and potentially delay the onset of diseases like Alzheimer\u2019s.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

First, it\u2019s important to understand the concept of brain health. The World Health Organization defines good brain health as \u201ca state in which every individual can realize their own abilities and optimize their cognitive, emotional, psychological and behavioral functioning to cope with life situations.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cognitive health, which puzzles and the brain-training industry targets, is <\/span>described<\/span><\/a> by the National Institute on Aging as \u201chow well you think, learn and remember.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think it’s pretty much consensus that playing these games that are really targeted to improve [certain] skills can make you better in these skills that you’re training,\u201d Susanne Jaeggi, Director of the Working Memory and Plasticity Lab at University of California, Irvine, says. \u201cYou’re playing attention games, so you’re getting better at attention games. If you go jogging everyday, you get faster. Things become easier. The real question is whether that helps you later on [with other functions].\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

All in all, playing word games really can\u2019t really hurt. One <\/span>2018 study<\/span><\/a> found that although playing puzzles can\u2019t delay or prevent cognitive decline, it can increase your cognitive abilities throughout your life so that there\u2019s a higher threshold to decline from. (<\/span>Cognitive function<\/span><\/a> refers to <\/span>different mental abilities, including learning, thinking, reasoning, remembering, problem solving, decision making, and attention.) <\/span>And a large study from the <\/span>University of Exeter<\/span><\/a> found that older adults who regularly do word and number puzzles, \u201c<\/span>the sharper their performance is across a range of tasks assessing memory, attention and reasoning.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe improvements are particularly clear in the speed and accuracy of their performance,\u201d the study says. \u201cWe can’t say that playing these puzzles necessarily reduces the risk of dementia in later life but this research supports previous findings that indicate regular use of word and number puzzles helps keep our brains working better for longer.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In general, brain training is only one piece of the puzzle. Cultivating brain health is mostly about living a healthy, socially engaged lifestyle.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhile dementia has a strong genetic component, there\u2019s still the environment and what we do with our life that <\/span>can<\/span><\/i> delay its onset<\/span><\/a>,\u201d Jaeggi says. \u201c<\/span>Sleep<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>physical exercise<\/span><\/a>, like walking, and <\/span>good nutrition<\/span><\/a> have been shown to be beneficial. And there\u2019s also some emerging evidence that being able to speak multiple languages, like <\/span>being bilingual<\/span><\/a> or trilingual, is a protective factor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So, if you enjoy the Wordle, there\u2019s no reason to stop. Plus, it\u2019s free! Think twice \u201cwhen you have to pay a lot of money for things,\u201d Jaeggi says.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The answer is more complicated than you\u2019d expect.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":19576,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[229],"tags":[69,106,83],"class_list":["post-19575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-healthcare-trends","tag-the-psychology-of-being-a-patient","tag-treatment","tag-wellness","reviewer-dr-nassim-assefi"],"yoast_head":"\nWordle: Is Playing Every Day Making You Smarter?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Cognitive science is complicated, but there are some studies that clue us into the potential impact of Wordle on our brains.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/blog\/healthcare-trends\/wordle\/\" \/>\n<meta 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