The Japanese mathematics puzzle game ‘Sudoku’ became a big hit today for its challenging and addictive style and the claim of its benefit for our brains. You may wonder how and where this boom comes from. What Sudoku is and when it becomes this big hit. The most important question is if this game really is good for our brains. Find the information in the article.
Sudoku is a Japanese puzzle game which initially appeared in Japanese newspaper in around 1984. It is a number puzzle based on a 9 x 9 grid. The grid is divided in to nine 3 X 3 boxes. There would be values to be chosen and completed in the puzzle. The grid would be filled so that every column and row and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 to 9 and they should not be duplicate.
The game is widely known since a Hong Kong Judge, Wayne Gould saw a partly completed puzzle in a Japanese bookstore. He developed a computer program to produce puzzles after over 6 years. Then he promoted Sudoku to The Times magazine in Britain and the article was first published widely on 12 November 2004.
Sudoku became known the British national phenomenon by 2005 and appeared in national British newspapers including The Guardian, The Sun, and The Daily Mirror. Sudoku boom in Britain rapidly as the games is differently attractive. Then Sudoku broadcasted worldwide through Sky One as a live show in the same year and known worldwide since then. In early 2006, Sudoku become a part of the Brain Age games: the game for training brain designed by Japanese neuroscientist Ryuta Kawashima. As a part of the game for brain, Sudoku mania then emerged.
Concerning to its benefits, Sudoku is believed to help on brain training and slower brain aging. That’s why it is taken to featured in the game Brain Age. People love this game as they are challenging, addictive, flow-inducing and, above all, beneficial for the brain.
However, scientist have done the experiment in the brain when people playing this kind of mathematical puzzle. The recent report from the experiment of the National Academy of Sciences made by researchers at the University Of Pennsylvania School Of Medicine using an FMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) showed the chronic stress. The team has visualized the effects of everyday stress that created by mathematical puzzles and recorded subjects’ emotional responses – such as stress, anxiety, and frustration. At the same time the changes in stress hormone and heart rate will be checked.
The result still showed anxiety and depression still maintain even after the testing was finished. Dr. Jiongjiong Wang, the principal investigator indicated that chronic stress can cause detrimental to mental health.