Are Puzzles Good for Your Brain? 7 Top Cognitive Benefits (2024)

Some people solve the New York Times crossword or sit down to a thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle as a fun and relaxing way to spend an evening. Others use expert puzzle strategies to strategize their way through a sudoku grid or work out a word search not necessarily because they enjoy it but because they’re under the impression that doing puzzles benefits the mind. But are puzzles good for your brain?

Ads for “brain game” apps and “braining training” online subscriptions would have you believe so. They make a lot of promises, from slowing cognitive decline and helping people manage symptoms of conditions like ADHD to boosting mental health and improving memory. But what does the science say about these and other claims that puzzles benefit your brain? In short: It’s complicated.

To help clear things up, Reader’s Digest asked four experts to walk us through what we know—and don’t know—about the benefits of puzzles. Here’s what we found out.

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Are puzzles good for your brain?

Puzzles may be good for your brain, but scientists will have to do more research before they can say for sure. See, the brain is a complex organ. Much is still unknown about how it functions and changes across the human life span.

When there’s some evidence to suggest that something as simple—and basically harmless—as doing puzzles could potentially benefit your brain, it’s not surprising that people get on board with the idea quickly. But it’s important to keep in mind that some of the claims made about the benefits of puzzles don’t exactly match up with the science. As experts remind us, much of the research is still in its infancy.

What are the benefits of puzzles on the brain?

Considering the complexity of the topic, we’ve asked four experts in brain health, language and puzzles to help us piece things together. Ahead, they explain the science and the current understanding of seven ways puzzles may benefit the brain.

They stimulate different parts of the brain

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When we talk about puzzles, we’re not just referring to the jigsaw variety. There are a wide variety of puzzles that require people to use a range of cognitive skills—from spatial thinking and reasoning to language—all of which stimulate different parts of the brain, says Marcel Danesi, PhD, a professor of semiotics and anthropology at Victoria College at the University of Toronto.

Don’t worry, he has some examples.“Puzzles that deal with the faculty of language—like riddles and acrostics—are likely to stimulate the language areas of the brain,” Danesi explains. “Those that deal with some aspect of logical thinking—such as placing symbols in a particular way in a grid—are likely to stimulate logic-processing areas.”

Along the same lines, hesays that puzzles activate both the left and right hemispheres of the brain. “Memory also comes into play, especially in word-based and math-based puzzles,” he notes.

They may encourage social interaction

While some puzzles are designed to be enjoyed solo, plenty of others are even better with a partner or group—even if you’re not engaging with people face to face. “Games like Wordle engender social interaction, which certainly improves mental health,” says Elizabeth Landsverk, MD, a triple-board-certified geriatrician specializing in dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Along the same lines, Alvaro Pascual-Leone, MD, PhD, a neurologist and professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School, suggests pairingpuzzle-solving with socializing with family or friends, as both are good for the brain.

They’re satisfying to solve

There’s a reason we talk about the “thrill of the hunt”: It feels good to use your brain to figure out how to achieve a goal. According to Danesi, puzzles play with words, numbers, shapes and logic in a way that draws us in and makes us want to solve them.

He likens this type of mental hunt to a detective looking for clues to solve a crime. “Puzzles are small-scale versions of this ‘quest for understanding,’ even though there is nothing new at the end of the hunt when a solution is uncovered,” he explains. “It is the hunt itself that is likely to stimulate various areas of the brain that involve discovery and a sense of satisfaction at once.”

They may help reduce stress and lift your mood

Are puzzles good for your brain when you’re at your most stressed? You bet, say experts. Life is hard, so if you enjoy solving puzzles, and if it helps you relax and maybe feel a little better for a few minutes, that’s reason enough to set aside some time for doing them.

Working on these head-scratchers can improve your mood, relieve stress, promote introspection and relaxation, and leave you with a sense of accomplishment. “Puzzles can be a welcome distraction from other tasks and an opportunity to focus on a single activity,” Dr. Pascual-Leone says. “Which puzzles have this effect varies by individual. For someone who enjoys math, it might be sudoku. For someone else, it might be a crossword puzzle.”

Or as Dr. Landsverk puts it: “As long as you find joy in solving puzzles, then there’s the benefit.”

They may help sharpen your cognitive skills

“Puzzles can be beneficial for cognitive function, whether it’s a jigsaw puzzle, a Rubik’s Cube, Wordle, sudoku or a crossword,” Dr. Pascual-Leone says. Essentially, the term cognitive function refers to mental processes like learning, making decisions, solving problems, thinking and reasoning, among others. In other words, some pretty important skills.

According to Dr. Pascual-Leone, the demands of puzzles vary, depending on whether they require you to use your spatial and deductive reasoning, visualization, different types of memory or a combination of skills. “For example, if you do a jigsaw puzzle of a famous painting without the painting for reference, you are using a number of these skills, including visualization, visual memory retrieval, working memory, executive functions and visuospatial constructional abilities,” he explains.

They may help you become more disciplined

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According to Dr. Pascual-Leone, because solving puzzles requires discipline, focus, emotional control and the ability to address problems in a sequential fashion, it can help teach us those skills. “Developing and strengthening these skills is good for our brain and can help us in other situations as well,” he says. Just think of how your work life might benefit from greater focus and problem-solving abilities.

They may help reduce the risk of developing dementia in the future

According to Gary Small, MD, the chair of psychiatry at Hackensack University Medical Center and an expert on memory, the brain and aging, there is scientific evidence indicating that stimulating your brain with puzzles, games, riddles, conversations or other forms of “mental aerobics” strengthens neuronal connections and may reduce the risk for future cognitive decline.

He points to a 2023 study published in JAMA Network Open with more than 10,000 participants ages 70 and older, which assessed the link between future dementia risk and various socially and mentally stimulating activities. “The investigators reported that more frequent engagement in writing letters; using computers; taking courses; playing games, cards or chess; as well as doing crosswords or puzzles predicted lower dementia risk in the future,” Dr. Smalls says. To a lesser extent, participants who engaged in creative activities like painting or drawing and in passive mental activities like reading, watching television or listening to music also had a lower dementia risk, he notes.

As promising as study findings like these may sound, the experts stress the need to have realistic expectations about what puzzles can—and can’t—do for your brain. “What we’re finding is that puzzles and other brain games, in general, do not offer the benefits that many had previously believed,” Dr. Landsverk says.

Plus, as Dr. Pascual-Leone points out, further research in this area is needed. “We know that learning and practicing new activities can help prevent cognitive decline, but we need larger population-based studies to demonstrate whether different kinds of puzzles can do this,” he says.

How can you reap the benefits of puzzles?

Ready to get started? Before you pick up your pencil, phone or jigsaw pieces, here are a few tips and strategies for getting the most out of solving puzzles:

• Branch out beyond your comfort zone.“To train your brain, it’s best not to fall into the trap of only doing puzzles that you’re good at or ones you find easy,” Dr. Pascual-Leone says. “The real benefit comes from challenging your brain to learn something new.”
• Don’t turn doing puzzles into a chore.While you want to challenge your brain, Dr. Pascual-Leone says that it’s also important to focus on puzzles you actually want to do. “Of course, doing puzzles should be enjoyable and not stressful, even when they are challenging,” he says.
• Find multiple sources of mental stimulation. Yes, puzzles come with some benefits, but Dr. Pascual-Leone cautions against solely relying upon puzzles to “keep minds active and delay impairment.” Instead, he says that it’s important to “take a more holistic approach to brain health that includes a healthful diet, regular exercise, relaxation, socialization, various kinds of new activities and more.”
• Find the “sweet spot.” If a game or puzzle is too easy, it’ll be boring, and you won’t activate your neural circuits, Dr. Small says. On the other hand, if it’s too challenging, you’ll get frustrated and give up. “If you don’t enjoy learning languages and would rather do crossword puzzles, then switch to puzzles but find ones that are fun and engaging,” he says. “The goal is to train but not strain your brain.”

Why trust us

Reader’s Digest is known for humor and brain games, including quizzes, puzzles, riddles, word games, trivia, math, pattern and logic puzzles, guessing games, crosswords, rebus, hidden objects and spot-the-difference challenges. We’ve earned prestigious ASME awards for our entertainment content and have produced dozens of brainteaser books, including Word Searches, Word Power, Use Your Words, Fun Puzzles and Brain Ticklers, Mind Stretchers, Ultimate Christmas Puzzles and more. Our 10 published volumes of Mind Stretchers were edited by Allen D. Bragdon, founder of The Brainwaves Center and editor of Gamesmagazine. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.

Sources:

• Marcel Danesi, PhD, professor emeritus of semiotics and anthropology at Victoria College, University of Toronto, and author of The Total Brain Workout.
• Gary Small, MD, chair of psychiatry at Hackensack University Medical Center; an expert on memory, the brain and aging; and the author of 12 books on cognitive and mental health, including The Memory BibleandBrain Games to Exercise Your Mind.
• Alvaro Pascual-Leone, MD, PhD, neurologist and professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School, senior scientist at the Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research, chief medical officer and co-founder of Linus Health and co-author of the book A Guide to Cognitive Fitness.
• Elizabeth Landsverk, MD, triple-board-certified geriatrician specializing in dementia and Alzheimer’s disease and the author of Living in the Moment.
• JAMA Network Open: “Lifestyle Enrichment in Later Life and Its Association with Dementia Risk”