Grey Matter and Society

By Andy Zynga

It is well established that brain games and puzzles act as calisthenics for our brains, expanding their capacity and improving their health. More surprising are the findings of a study led by researchers at the University of Michigan: just as effective in building cognitive strength are social interactions.

The design of the study was simple: the researchers took one group of participants, randomly paired people up and instructed them to get to know each other by asking probing questions. After 10 minutes of interaction, the participants were given cognitive tests.

In parallel, participants in a second group were given challenging brain-game activities to perform, also for 10 minutes, and followed by the same cognitive tests. Athird group served as the control and took the tests with no prelude.

The result? The social interaction group outperformed the control group on the cognitive tests, and did not differ from the brain games group — suggesting that the active perspective-taking in conversation involves mental gymnastics as demanding as any brainteaser.

I find it fascinating that a good way to keep your brain "oiled" is simply to spend time talking to people. I'm also happy to note that this makes the case for open innovation — where organisations invite outsiders to take a crack at solving tricky problems — even stronger.

From "A Social Brain Is a Smarter Brain"