Sudoku on the Brain

I’m addicted. Train, plane, or bus, it doesn’t matter, I need my fix and it’s driving Nat nuts. Ever since we visited her Swedish family, I’ve been hooked. I blame it on Sussie, Nat’s sister. She and I played Sudoku for 9 hours while travelling to the country’s far north for Christmas. We each took one puzzle of equal difficulty and raced to see who could finish it first. If that wasn’t enough, Sussie gave me an entire book of 100 puzzles as a Christmas gift. This of course, just thrilled Nat…

Yesterday, as Nat read about Ethiopia over porridge, I broke out my latest challenge of finding where number 7 goes over scrambled eggs. She looked up and asked me in a resigned tone, “Does it actually help your brain, or is it a complete waste of time like watching T.V. – I mean, you’re just playing with numbers, aren’t you?”

Well…yes…Sudoku is just playing with numbers. All you need to do is fill in a partially completed 9X9 grid so that each column, each row, and each of the nine 3×3 boxes contain the digits 1 through 9. It sounds easy, but it can be surprisingly difficult, often frustrating, and strangely entertaining. I’m not alone in this mild obsession. Ever since Sudoku became a hit with the masses, it has produced around $250 million U.S. in global revenue, generated by an estimated 80 million other addicted souls.

It was originally designed by Howard Garns, a 74-year-old architect, and was first published in 1979 by Dell Magazines under the name Number Place. It became popular in Japan in 1986, when it was published by a Japanese company called Nikoli and given the name Sudoku. However, it only became an international hit in 2005 after a retired Hong Kong judge and New Zealander, Wayne Gould, had spent 6 years developing a computer program for newspapers and magazines to more rapidly create Sudoku puzzles for their daily editions. The first newspaper to publish the puzzle was The Times in Britain on November 12th, 2004. It generated major buzz and spread to the States the following year.

Since then, Nikoli, widely regarded as the world’s largest fountain of logic games, has flooded airports, bookstores and magazines in 66 countries with Sudoku brainteasers. It has also been the topic of more than 200 books, which have sold 20 million copies worldwide.

The attraction of the puzzle is that the rules are simple, yet the line of reasoning required to solve it is complex. Not only that, but because it’s based on simple numbers, it can cross borders and cultural divides with ease. This became evident when, walking into our Ethiopian hotel one day carrying a Sudoku puzzle, I heard from Teddy, the hotel manager, “Man, I hate that game, it drives me crazy and makes my brain tired.”

It makes my brain tired too, and not surprisingly, its popularity was quickly followed by research into the mental power of the puzzle. According to researchers in Stockholm, just like listening to Mozart or eating eggs, playing Sudoku can not only boost IQ levels, but can refresh your brain and give you a mental edge with other intellectual activities. Ah… how Nat rolled her eyes when I told her. “It’s all part of the marketing machine, honey”, she quipped.

But I need to believe. “Just as the body benefits from activities such as sit-ups and swimming,” says Scott Craven of the Arizona Republic, “the brain builds its muscles through a variety of mental activities, whether it’s Sudoku sprints or Monopoly marathons.” In other words, exercising the brain can actually help the brain produce new cells.

A study published in the July 1998 issue of Neuroscience magazine even showed that rats who were given a difficult water maze to complete, actually produced a chemical in their brain that catalyzes cell production. While it may seem like common sense to rest the brain after a long period of mental activity, as one would rest the body during halftime at a sporting event, studies have shown that “using the mind actually causes rewiring of the brain, sprouting new synapses, and it may even cause the generation of new neurons,” said Joseph Coyle, a professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at Harvard Medical School, quoted in a Washington Post article titled “Mind games may trump Alzheimer’s.”

So, the next time you find yourself wondering what to do with your spare time, rather than turning on the tube, pick up a Sudoku puzzle. You’ll be tearing your hair out in no time, but, hey, you’ll be smarter for it. Now, where does that number 7 go?

Oh, in case you’re interested, the second Sudoku world championship will be held in Prague, Czech Republic from March 28 to April 1, 2007.

For more info, tips and strategies go to: www.sudoku.org.uk

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