Wrapped up in Wordle: A craze that's helping our brains
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Have you found yourself immersed in the Wordle or Quordle craze? If you have - congrats - you're helping your brain!
And that's just what the doctor ordered. Whether it's trying to guess today's Wordle in six chances, Quordle, or one of the many spin-offs, listen up.
"These are exactly the type of games that I would recommend people do if they ask how do I keep my cognition good as I age," said Dr. Jessica Caldwell, a neuropsychologist at the Cleveland Clinic. "You're growing new neural pathways. You're supporting the old neural path neural pathways."
...could we get that in English?
"The key is really challenging and learning, those are the only ways that you're really actually exercising your brain," Dr. Caldwell said.
She added that brain health is not just about being busy. Things like doing your job on autopilot or after work having an activity that just causes you to zone out, it's not giving you learning opportunities or challenges.
Dr. Caldwell said you need the challenge the game brings, but if you're doing it out of peer pressure and you don't like it - find something else.
"Stay as mentally active as possible," she said. "You want to find something that's a challenge but that you can also keep up and you like it."
It doesn't have to take up a whole day, just a few minutes is more than acceptable.
"If the key is to build it into your day, build it into your week," Dr. Caldwell explained. "You don't have to do a marathon full day session. Really just making it a habit is the key."
Clearly, Wordle or Quordle and their offsprings have taken a big step to bring crossword puzzle brain benefits to the electronic generation.
Dr. Caldwell said there is also research that indicates in the early stages of memory loss, building a cognitive training exercise into your routine can help support your memory.
