Health benefits of brain games

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Jonathan Bryant
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Re: Health benefits of brain games

Post by Jonathan Bryant » Mon Jan 14, 2019 5:49 pm

Mick Norris wrote:
Mon Jan 14, 2019 8:42 am
John Foley's not got a good track record, has he?
I’m afraid not. I asked him a few years back to provide supporting evidence for his claims. He didn’t then. I quite sure he won’t now if you asked him.

The real tragedy of all this - as per my previous comments earlier in this thread - is that there are very good arguments to support provision of chess programmes for older people as well as other activities. There’s absolutely no reason to bull**it / sell the snake oil

John Foley
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Re: Health benefits of brain games

Post by John Foley » Thu Jan 17, 2019 3:23 pm

Mick Norris wrote:
Mon Jan 14, 2019 8:42 am
John Foley's not got a good track record, has he?
Mick Norris's not got a good track record, has he?

J T Melsom
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Re: Health benefits of brain games

Post by J T Melsom » Thu Jan 17, 2019 3:58 pm

An excellent example of the health benefits of chess that last response. :lol:

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Re: Health benefits of brain games

Post by John Foley » Thu Jan 17, 2019 7:16 pm

So far, no studies have shown that brain training prevents dementia. However, this is a relatively new area of research and most studies have been too small and too short to test any effect of brain training on the development of cognitive decline or dementia.

Evidence suggests that brain training may help older people to manage their daily tasks better, but longer term studies are needed to understand what effect, if any, these activities may have on a person’s likelihood of developing dementia.

J T Melsom
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Re: Health benefits of brain games

Post by J T Melsom » Thu Jan 17, 2019 8:48 pm

Where do the above paragraphs come from please? Are there intended as a correction or simply amplification of the claims made in the article circulated by the ECF. I read them as a correction since they provide no scientific citation which was what those challenging the article were after.

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JustinHorton
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Re: Health benefits of brain games

Post by JustinHorton » Thu Jan 17, 2019 8:56 pm

It's from the Alzheimer's Society. I have no idea what point John Foley thinks he is making by citing it.
"Do you play chess?"
"Yes, but I prefer a game with a better chance of cheating."

lostontime.blogspot.com

Jonathan Bryant
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Re: Health benefits of brain games

Post by Jonathan Bryant » Thu Jan 17, 2019 10:03 pm

J T Melsom wrote:
Thu Jan 17, 2019 8:48 pm
I read them as a correction since they provide no scientific citation which was what those challenging the article were after.
The quote also fails to provide any explanation as to why ‘chess’ and ‘brain training’ should be treated as the same thing


Article on brain training from 2014 here >

http://streathambrixtonchess.blogspot.c ... r.html?m=1

It includes the following observation.

We can no more assume that the terms 'chess' and 'brain training computer software' are interchangeable than we can decide that 'board games' and 'chess' mean exactly the same thing.


For those interested some Relevant research - actual journal articles - is listed here >>

http://streathambrixtonchess.blogspot.c ... e.html?m=1

Jonathan Bryant
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Re: Health benefits of brain games

Post by Jonathan Bryant » Sun Jan 20, 2019 12:56 pm

Jonathan Bryant wrote:
Thu Jan 17, 2019 10:03 pm


Article on brain training from 2014 here >

http://streathambrixtonchess.blogspot.c ... r.html?m=1
Cochrane Reviews - people who do proper science - are going to publish another review of brain training and dementia soon (see: the very end of https://www.cochrane.org/news/preventin ... -have-role)

It will be an interesting read. Not that brain training auto equals chess or vice versa.

Meantime, perhaps we can encourage people to play chess and provide opportunities for them to do so and cease the nonsense?

Kevin Thurlow
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Re: Health benefits of brain games

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Sun Jul 26, 2020 10:05 am

Whilst studying the website of the Mawson Centre, University of Adelaide, South Australia, I encountered this:-

"Chess Club SA run a school holiday program at the end of every term here at The Mawson Centre. Normally the first Wednesday of holidays, kids enjoy a day of chess play and friendly tournament activities.
For all the latest news and bookings for the program- please visit www.chessschool.com.au

The seven greatest benefits of chess

Focusing • Children are taught the benefits of observing carefully.
Visualizing • Children are prompted to imagine a sequence of actions before it happens.
Thinking Ahead • Children are taught to think first, and then act. Over time, chess helps develop patience and thoughtfulness.
Weighing Options • Children are taught that they don’t have to do the first thing that pops into their mind. They learn to identify alternatives and consider the pros and cons of various actions.
Analyzing Concretely • Children learn to evaluate the results of specific actions and sequences. Decisions are better when guided by logic, rather than impulse.
Thinking Abstractly • Children are taught to step back periodically from details and consider the bigger picture. They also learn to take patterns used in one context and apply them to different, but related situations.
Planning • Children are taught to develop goals. They are also taught of the need to reevaluate their plans as new developments change the situation"

"Over time, chess helps develop patience and thoughtfulness." as regular users of this forum will know, er,... Chess as a learning aid sounds more plausible than as an anti-dementia treatment.

The centre is named after legendary Antarctic explorer Sir Douglas Mawson, whose team members did play chess when in their hut in the frozen wastes just over a century ago.

David Robertson

Re: Health benefits of brain games

Post by David Robertson » Tue Jul 28, 2020 10:58 pm

Kevin Thurlow wrote:
Sun Jul 26, 2020 10:05 am
Whilst studying the website of the Mawson Centre, University of Adelaide, South Australia, I encountered this:-

The seven greatest benefits of chess

Focusing • Children are taught the benefits of observing carefully.
Visualizing • Children are prompted to imagine a sequence of actions before it happens.
Thinking Ahead • Children are taught to think first, and then act. Over time, chess helps develop patience and thoughtfulness.
Weighing Options • Children are taught that they don’t have to do the first thing that pops into their mind. They learn to identify alternatives and consider the pros and cons of various actions.
Analyzing Concretely • Children learn to evaluate the results of specific actions and sequences. Decisions are better when guided by logic, rather than impulse.
Thinking Abstractly • Children are taught to step back periodically from details and consider the bigger picture. They also learn to take patterns used in one context and apply them to different, but related situations.
Planning • Children are taught to develop goals. They are also taught of the need to reevaluate their plans as new developments change the situation
Monstrous great yawn.

Wrong way round, as ever. Correct way: some who possess these qualities may enjoy chess. A few may even be good at it

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MJMcCready
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Re: Health benefits of brain games

Post by MJMcCready » Wed Jul 29, 2020 8:31 am

Being an academic at heart, my natural reflex was to think someone's talking out of his or her arse.

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MJMcCready
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Re: Health benefits of brain games

Post by MJMcCready » Wed Jul 29, 2020 8:34 am

A more important question is should chess players pay any attention whatsoever to whatever finds its way into mass media, especially when the corporation in question has a proven track record of harbouring paedophiles for decades.

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JustinHorton
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Re: Health benefits of brain games

Post by JustinHorton » Wed Jul 29, 2020 8:46 am

MJMcCready wrote:
Wed Jul 29, 2020 8:34 am
A more important question is should chess players pay any attention whatsoever to whatever finds its way into mass media, especially when the corporation in question has a proven track record of harbouring paedophiles for decades.
MJMcCready wrote:
Wed Jul 29, 2020 8:31 am
Being an academic at heart, my natural reflex was to think someone's talking out of his or her arse.
"Do you play chess?"
"Yes, but I prefer a game with a better chance of cheating."

lostontime.blogspot.com

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MJMcCready
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Re: Health benefits of brain games

Post by MJMcCready » Wed Jul 29, 2020 8:51 am

Also not the most humorous person alive, that I admit to

Richard James
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Re: Health benefits of brain games

Post by Richard James » Wed Jul 29, 2020 12:01 pm

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-07- ... arter.html

Music may not make kids smarter, according to Giovanni Sala and IM Fernand Gobet, who had previously reached the same conclusions about chess.

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