Bingo Boosts the Brain

It’s accepted science these days that a healthy lifestyle – complete with exercise and a great diet - is more likely to increase your life expectancy and keep you active to a ripe old age.

But… Did you know you can apply the same criteria to your brain - and that bingo is the perfect workout for your grey matter.

Yes - it’s official: bingo is good for your brain! With the rise in sites offering free online bingo, there’s no excuse not to give your brain a workout.

Researchers from the University of Southampton carried out a scientific test on 112 people aged between 18 and 40 and between 60 and 82.

The groups were split 50/50 between people who played bingo and those that didn’t.

The researcher Julie Winstone said that it had long been suspected that long term mental activity could stave off cognitive deterioration.

She presented her findings to the Annual Conference of the Psychologists Special Interest Group in Older People in Winchester.

The research studied people as they were playing bingo – accurately checking off numbers - and the results were fascinating.

All the bingo players were faster and more accurate than those that did not play the game. Ms Winstone said: "I expected bingo players to be better than non-players at bingo skills but, interestingly, younger and older players were able to achieve the same level of performance.

"They didn't decrease in their knowledge or skill at the game, and the effectiveness with which they played did not decrease."

Ms Winstone said younger players were quicker, but older ones were more accurate in tests.

She added: "Bingo is just as valuable an activity to take part in as bridge, or doing puzzles. It uses different processes, and it seems that that best thing is to do a range of activities. Bingo shouldn't be dismissed, as it has been in the past."

Today, around 3 million people play bingo in the UK and the explosion in online bingo is encouraging more people to reach for the daubers and try the nation’s favourite game.

The social element is bingo also stimulates the brain. Chat and engagement triggers a completely different set of neural responses.

In short: if you want to enjoy a great night out, combined with the chance to win some big money AND give your brain a healthy work out, enjoy a game on the nation’s top game: B(RA)IN-GO