A neurologist wrote a piece in SSM Health www.ssmhealth.com (January 2025) emphasising that the brain can form new pathways at any age, and that social puzzling, that is, doing jigsaw puzzles with family or friends, offers even greater benefit than solo puzzling.
Why is that? The answer seems to be quite clear in our association’s creative room, where we have a daily on-going puzzle, open to all of us, and not excluding random visitors, who just have to add “one more piece to the puzzle”.
Another study mentioned in http://www.RealityPathing.com (July 2025) talks about other benefits, on a more personal level. Focusing attention on a puzzle shifts attention away from worries and intrusive thoughts, and the “flow state” can lower cortisol levels and produce a sense of calm.
We love to puzzle together and in the creative room there is space for people to read, knit, write and above all meet and chat. Surely this helps promote a sense of well-being and maybe even slow cognitive decline. We like to think so.
