A Sudoku A Day Exercises The Brain

A Sudoku A Day Exercises The Brain

Negative issues are usually associated with addiction. Drug abuse, excessive drinking, and even too much gambling are all negative activities that are highly addictive. But if there is one kind of addiction that is actually beneficial for adults and kids alike, it would be an addiction to sudoku puzzles. Researchers rank solving sudoku puzzles daily among the top ten non-traditional and alternative ways to boosts brain power. Other brain boosting moves include high-protein di...

Negative issues are usually associated with addiction. Drug abuse, excessive drinking, and even too much gambling are all negative activities that are highly addictive. But if there is one kind of addiction that is actually beneficial for adults and kids alike, it would be an addiction to sudoku puzzles. Researchers rank solving sudoku puzzles daily among the top ten non-traditional and alternative ways to boosts brain power. Other brain boosting moves include high-protein diets, listening to classical music, and lots of rest. These are simple but are rather difficult to follow because of budget limitations, personal preferences, and lifestyle. This is the advantage sudoku games holds over other brain boosters. They are accessible from newspapers, books, and even the Internet. They are also workable between breaks or at any spare time. So every time someone chastises you for doing sudoku again, kindly explain and hope that they pick up the habit too.

Though sudoku puzzles are not mathematical problems, solving the puzzles requires the most basic tool of mathematics and science: logic. Since the puzzles entail the use of logic, common sense, and concentration, the brain is put out of the stupor of doing routine, mundane tasks. In other words, your brain actually gets a break and a good work-out. Studies reveal that the more the brain uses its skills, the better it works. Brains that get more exercise are determined to be more active, and its cells are healthier. Researchers even associate sudoku brain exercises to physical exercise. They stress that just as physical exercise keeps muscle loss at bay, sudoku exercise keeps brain cells from dying and also encourages better brain function. Education is important, but studies actually show that students who do mental workouts like sudoku have higher IQs than students who do not. This only shows that doses of sudoku are more than just ways to pass time. They actually help in improving your ability to comprehend more complex ideas.

Ian Robertson, a neuroscientist, facilitated a research among the elderly with the premise that decreased mental ability is not inevitable with the right stimulation. The research included two groups of elderly people: the first group solved sudoku puzzles as part of their routine, while the second did not. After some time, their IQ levels were tested and compared to their test results before the experiment. The sudoku-solving group was found to have increased their mental abilities by a significant percentage while the other group showed no change. Dr. Robertson cited a similar research wherein 3,000 people, aged 65-94, were found to have increased their mental capabilities and age by as much as 14 years, just by ten sessions of brain boosting exercise like sudoku.

Other experts agree with these findings, saying that solving challenging mind games like sudoku puzzles inhibit or prevent the development of Alzheimer's disease and memory loss. Health trends also show that adults with demanding, and intellectually challenging jobs benefit from better mental function when they age. Sudoku functions just like these jobs because it requires brain exertions.

As it is, experts advise adults to encourage children to solve puzzles like sudoku to start mental improvement earlier in life. Sudoku exercises are actually adopted by some schools to stimulate thinking and foster better academic performance of their students. So instead of letting kids watch TV, or read comics, hand them sudoku puzzles. Then, both you and your kids can defend your love of sudoku to those poor souls who do not understand the beauty, joy, and benefits of solving it.

A Sudoku A Day Exercises The Brain

The History of Sudoku

The History of Sudoku

Sudoku is the current rage among number puzzles. It is an abbreviation of the Japanese phrase "suuji wa dokushin ni kagiru" which means "the digits must remain single".

Hailed as the Rubik’s Cube of the 21st century, Sudoku is the current rage among number puzzles. It may sound surreal but at an age where bubblegum pop music has successfully reinvented itself as punk rock through the likes of Avril Lavigne and Simple Plan, a puzzle and a number puzzle at that is able to establish itself as a global phenomenon. Sudoku, which is sometimes spelled as Su Doku, is pronounced as soo-doe-koo. It is an abbreviation of the Japanese phrase suuji wa dokushin ni kagiru which means the digits must remain single. Most people are under the wrong impression that sudoku is of Japanese origin when the only thing Japanese about sudoku is the word sudoku. 

Nikoli Publishing House Nikoli is the publisher of the leading Japanese puzzle publication Monthly Nikolist. The think tanks of Nikoli noticed an interesting number puzzle called The Number Place published by their American counterparts, Dell Puzzle Magazines. Sudoku made its debut on the pages of Monthly Nikolist in April of the year 1984. It was initially christened Suuji wa dokushin ni kagiru by Kaji Maki, Nikoli’s incumbent president at that time. The maiden issue of Sudoku enjoyed modest success. Its success is due in large part to the fact that the Japanese people are inherently puzzle-crazy. 

It was not until two significant developments occurred that the puzzle began to really catch fire. First, the name suuji wa dokushin ni kagiru was shortened to sudoku which was easier to remember and to market. Second, Nikoli modified the game by introducing two new rules in 1986: the digits of are to be arranged symmetrically; and the given numbers are not to exceed 30 digits. As of today, there are at least five publishing companies that print monthly magazines solely devoted to the game in Japan. Sudoku is, for all intents and purposes, a brand name; it is not the generic name of the game. It is a lawfully registered mark of the Nikoli Company in Japan. This means that the other publishers of the game in Japan are legally obligated to provide their own brand names for their versions of the popular number puzzle. 

Made in Manhattan According to urban legends, sudoku was created by a team of puzzle creators from New York. Another version of the story credits a certain Howard Gerns, a retired architect and puzzle enthusiast, as the true father of the modern sudoku. Although the legends conflict and give credit to different inventors, they coincide on two important details: 

Sudoku was first published in 1979 by Dell Puzzle Magazines under the title The Number Place; and 

Gerns and the team of puzzle creators were both inspired by the Latin Square of Leonhard Euler. Sudoku: The Old Testament Leonhard Euler, a Swiss mathematician, presented a paper entitled De Quadratis Magicis before the St. Petersburg Academy in 1776. Euler demonstrated that a magic square can be created through the use of 9, 16, 25 or 36 cells. He imposed conditions on the value of his number variables to bring about the creation of his magic square. His magic square evolved into the Latin square in his later papers. 

The versions of Gerns and the team of puzzlers differ from Euler in two ways: First, Euler’s Latin square does not have a regional restriction; and Second, Euler neither created nor did he intend to create a puzzle. On the other hand, Gerns and the team saw the potential of a hit puzzle in Euler’s works and proceeded to create the grandfather of modern day sudoki with this specific frame of mind. No Fool’s Gould Wayne Gould, a retired judge based in Hong Kong, chanced upon a sudoku puzzle in a Tokyo bookstore in 1997; Gould could not help but gravitate towards the blank squares of the puzzle. He felt compelled to create a digital version of the puzzle and worked on the sudoku computer program from 1997 to 2003. 

In 2004, he found himself pitching an unknown puzzle called Su Doku to The Times of Britain. The results were overwhelming; within a few days, other newspapers began printing their own versions of the game. The popularity of the game snowballed and spilled over to Australia and New Zealand. By 2005, it had earned the moniker the fastest growing puzzle in the world. What Goes Around, Comes Around American newspapers caught wind of the sensation created by sudoku in Britain and the rest of the world, and found themselves jumping on the sudoku bandwagon. The New York Post published its own version of sudoku in April of 2005; this marked the homecoming and belated public acceptance of a New York native who went unnoticed in its own backyard since its birth for more than 20 years. 

Within a few days sudoku made its presence felt throughout the country when major dailies such as USA Today and The Daily News began replacing their usual crosswords with the number game. The appeal of modern sudoku appears to be infinite and without boundaries. As a number puzzle, it does not make use of letters from any particular language; thus easily dispensing with the language barrier factor. Publications numbering in hundreds of thousands, from magazines to newspapers and digests, solely devoted to the game are testaments to the puzzle’s popularity and profitability. The numerous websites that offer digital versions of the game, for free or for fee, guarantees the game’s continuous development and improvement; it also provides a platform most accessible to the younger population. 

Sudoku has even gone mobile as companies race to create sudoku games specifically for mobile phone users. Sudoku is a game of logic that challenges the young and old alike. In fact, studies on the mental benefits of regularly playing sudoku have been conducted; and the results have been positive so far. From the fastest growing puzzle in the world, sudoku has evolved into the most contagious puzzle virus the world has seen in years. Go and play sudoku.

The History of Sudoku