Brain Training With Riddles – Does it Work?

Working riddles makes you to think. Often you have to think hard or in new ways. Riddles are good at teaching us how to reframe a context, probe deeply on small clues, invert our assumptions and other problem solving heuristics.  Some claim they are a great brain training tool. For example, I recently came across Riddles Improve Brain Functionality, Translate to Real-Life Problem Solving Skills, that claims:

“A daily dose of riddles and brain teasers is one of the most effective ways to exercise the mind. It is proven that by spending just a few minutes a day “playing” improves memory, concentration and reaction time. This improved brain power translates into being more efficient as a parent, student, employee or boss.”

While I have yet to find a scientific study that supports the claim that working riddles significantly improves cognitive performance on everyday tasks, it does seem reasonable.

Try some out. Riddlesly (source of the quote above) is a popular site. Or for $15 you can get visual brainstorms from Marbles the brain store. Visual brainstorms is a deck of 100 cards with riddles of various types of levels.

Interested to hear from readers that use riddles as part of their Next brain training program.