Is Bingo good for brain-power?

Tagged as: Mecca Bingo | by Hollie Sanders

Part one.. It is a little difficult to conceive that bingo is an activity that could possibly be beneficial to the brain power of a human being, especially if you conjure up the picture of a little old granny sitting in her bingo seat at the local Mecca Bingo Club in Leeds with a cuppa and 10 or so bingo cards in front of her. Or your mum for that matter in front of her computer with a couple of online games going.

But nevertheless a study was conducted by the University of Southampton’s Psychology Department. That resulted in researchers coming to the conclusion that bingo definitely helps to keep the mind sharp and this is of particular importance particularly in the aged.

The tests conducted by the University has some surprising results, they found that people who played bingo were generally more accurate and faster when given tests measuring mental speed, memory and various other skills than people who did not play bingo.

Online games such as chess, backgammon and poker are also considered to be beneficial in keeping the brain function sharp, but apparently the skill required for the online bingo player in terms of the time constraint for checking their numbers, actually sustains mental energy, giving online bingo players an edge over players of other online games. While younger online bingo players seemed to be faster, the older player was definitely more accurate.

It is unfortunate that there is a stigma attached to bingo because of the fact that pensioners play the game, but this appears to be a misleading social perception as the game does require more accuracy in order to win.