Quote Originally Posted by rastewart View Post
Dang, yes, I just hate when that happens.

I kind of take a middle road with puzzles in general. I suspect that doing them probably does help your mental agility a bit, especially if you keep doing them at a level that challenges you; and learning a new type of puzzle (Sudoku if you're a crossword geek like me, crosswords or Scrabble if you are really good at Sudoku) probably helps a bit more.

But I think learning languages is even better for the brain. A language is more complex than any puzzle and pulls you into a never-ending interplay between structure, memorized knowledge, and creative improvisation, not to mention that you are learning at least some elements of a culture and a way of thinking at the same time.

And I have also read recently a couple of articles--probably sourced from the same study--asserting that exercise is probably better for your cognition than games or puzzles, and that makes sense to me. Your brain is a part of your body, after all, and inter alia uses more oxygen than any other organ.

By way of full disclosure, I'm way into the languages and always have been--currently taking a Spanish class, using Russian and a bit of Polish on the job, and poking around with Latin and Gaelic in spare moments--but the exercise, ummmmmmm, we could do with a little improvement there.

~Rich

I feel you on the exercise. I'm a language hound, myself. I adore Scrabble, and RULE at Trivial Pursuit LOL. I like crossword puzzles, but would rather read a book. Probably ought to try walking a bit more, though. I'm outdoors 12 hours every day, so often on my time off, I wanna stay INDOORS