Brainteasers are a great way to push the body’s mind to its limits through puzzles that help provide essential exercise to the organ.
Brainteasers can come in many different forms. They can be analytical, mathematical, or observational. This brainteaser from the Daily Express is an example of an observational brainteaser.
In the square is a box full of the letter W. However, hiding among the Ws is one example of the letter V. Your task is to find the letter V as soon as you can.
The key to solving this brainteaser is to carefully scan each row and column of the image to pick out the one letter that isn’t like the others. Done correctly and the odd letter out will be found very quickly – try and prove you have 20/20 vision by soliving this puzzle in under 15 seconds.
To try some more of our mind-boggling brainteaser, click here.
Although brainteasers may seem like a brief bit of fun which can be done on the morning commute or whilst sitting in a waiting room, they could have some benefits.
Brainteasers act like exercise for the mind. In the same way that cycling or running helps strengthen the leg muscles, brain puzzles can help keep the mind healthy by stimulating it with new challenges.
The healthier the mind is, the less likely someone might be to develop a neurodegenerative condition such as dementia, one of the most devastating illnesses in the world. A recent study found that symptoms of the disease can appear over 20 years before symptoms develop.
Experts found that poor spatial navigation could indicate the onset of the condition around 25 years before symptoms develop. Speaking about the research, Dr Coco Newton said: “Our results indicated that this type of navigation behaviour change might represent the very earliest diagnostic signal in the Alzheimer’s disease continuum – when people move from being unimpaired to showing manifestation of the disease.
“We are now taking these findings forward to develop a diagnostic clinical decision support tool for the NHS in the coming years, which is a completely new way of approaching diagnostics and will hopefully help people to get a more timely and accurate diagnosis.”
Professor Dennis Chan added that the research, that found spatial navigation impairment was more prominent in men than women “highlights the need for further study of the differing vulnerability of men and women to Alzheimer’s disease, and the importance of taking gender into account for both diagnosis and future treatment”.
