Hard Crosswords May Do Little to Build Brain Capacity
Wood says broader skills, like a new ball sport, probably transfer more broadly than a single computer brain-training task.
Andrew Huberman · Accelerate Learning & Increase Cognitive Capacity | Dr. Tommy WoodDr. Tommy Wood, who studies neuroplasticity, described a distinction between staying focused and building capacity.
Citing the work of attention researcher Gloria Mark, Wood said crosswords and sudoku were less of a true cognitive challenge, even when the puzzles were hard. The effect was closer to a meditative effect, which he said can be a good thing, but it was focused without being truly challenged.
Building capacity, in his account, required time spent both focused and challenged cognitively. That came from learning new motor, language, or social skills, and ideally skills that were as broad as possible.
Breadth mattered because the breadth of the brain response was proportional to the breadth of the stimulus. His example was learning a new ball sport, which draws on motor skills, social skills, and visual and auditory processing that get faster and harder as performance improves.
His contrast was mastering one computer-based brain exercise. A person can become very good at that one thing, Wood said, without that gain transferring to other areas of daily life.
In his summary, broader and more complex human skills probably give broader transfer because multiple pathways or networks are activated. Ideally, he said, such a skill would sit outside a person's current skill set and combine motor and cognitive demands, such as learning the rules of a game and interacting with other people.
Questions people ask
What did Wood mean by calling crosswords meditative?
He meant focused but not challenged. A person is paying steady attention, which Wood said can be a good thing, but the task does not require the new learning that would expand capacity.
Why would a ball sport engage the brain more broadly than a computer task?
Wood argued that the breadth of the response follows the breadth of the stimulus. A ball sport uses motor, social, visual, and auditory processing together, while a single computer task activates a narrower set of pathways.
Did Wood say pushing harder at a familiar activity never helps?
Wood said it depended on what a person already did. His general point was that capacity comes from time spent both focused and challenged, especially through broad and unfamiliar skills.