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The Playful Brain: The Surprising Science of How Puzzles Improve Your Mind
This is your brain on puzzles.
Everyone knows that puzzles can improve your brain function. Now a leading neurosurgeon and a noted puzzle designer team up to reveal the fascinating science behind it. Packed with illuminating insights and dozens of puzzles, this is both a lively book of popular science and an engaging set of exercises in developing a wide array of thinking and memory skills.
Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
22 people are currently reading
493 people want to read
About the author
Richard Restak
45 books81 followersRichard M. Restak M.D. is an award-winning neuroscientist, neuropsychiatrist and writer. The best-selling author of nineteen acclaimed books about the brain, he has also penned dozens of articles for a variety of publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and USA Today. A fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, the American Academy of Neurology, and the American Neuropsychiatric Association, he lives and practices in Washington, D.C.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
February 2, 2012
You want to be healthy, right? So, just when you think you have your physical exercise and nutrition regimen worked out, along comes a neuroscientist that urges you to add in something else if you want to be healthy: special mental exercise!
Lest you despair, even a small amount of mental exercise can increase new neuronal connections (and improve heath) in the brain -- and, for the playful among us, there is good news! Doing "puzzles" (mental challenges of many sorts) can improve your brain health!
In THE PLAYFUL BRAIN a brain scientist has teamed up with a puzzle designer to create various types of mental challenges (puzzles) that can activate and strengthen key mental processes. The book discusses various brain processes and then offers puzzles to target the specific brain functions that the modern-day research tool (fMRI) suggests are useful for the brain function under discussion.
(Using fMRI researchers can see which parts of the brain light up --evidence of use-- when the brain wrestles with the "puzzles" that are included -- or with other special challenges or lifestyles. For example, London cab drivers have one area of their brain that is much larger than that same place in the brains of the rest of us -- and the spot becomes larger in the cab drivers who have more years on the job!)
The book contains the following topics: MEMORY: working memory, long-term memory; PERCEPTION: visual thinking, spatial thinking, listening, motor skill learning, time; COGNITION: thinking in words, logic, emotions and thinking, mathematics, illusions, and creativity.
The topics are presented in a pop-science level of difficulty rather than technically for the more serious neuroscience audience.
The authors believe that solving puzzles is a skill that can be learned and practiced to enhance cognitive complexity leading to "richer, more nuanced perceptions, longer-lasting memories, more accurate responses to people, situations and events."
Give yourself plenty of time as you go along to do the puzzles --and read the included answers and valuable explanations -- as well as to check out the various internet websites mentioned throughout the book -- including {theplayfulbrain.com}.
Although I checked out a library hardcover, I had to allot more time than the book's size suggested. Solving the puzzles can take more time than simple reading.
The book is now available in paperback, a convenience that interested readers will no doubt appreciate.
Lest you despair, even a small amount of mental exercise can increase new neuronal connections (and improve heath) in the brain -- and, for the playful among us, there is good news! Doing "puzzles" (mental challenges of many sorts) can improve your brain health!
In THE PLAYFUL BRAIN a brain scientist has teamed up with a puzzle designer to create various types of mental challenges (puzzles) that can activate and strengthen key mental processes. The book discusses various brain processes and then offers puzzles to target the specific brain functions that the modern-day research tool (fMRI) suggests are useful for the brain function under discussion.
(Using fMRI researchers can see which parts of the brain light up --evidence of use-- when the brain wrestles with the "puzzles" that are included -- or with other special challenges or lifestyles. For example, London cab drivers have one area of their brain that is much larger than that same place in the brains of the rest of us -- and the spot becomes larger in the cab drivers who have more years on the job!)
The book contains the following topics: MEMORY: working memory, long-term memory; PERCEPTION: visual thinking, spatial thinking, listening, motor skill learning, time; COGNITION: thinking in words, logic, emotions and thinking, mathematics, illusions, and creativity.
The topics are presented in a pop-science level of difficulty rather than technically for the more serious neuroscience audience.
The authors believe that solving puzzles is a skill that can be learned and practiced to enhance cognitive complexity leading to "richer, more nuanced perceptions, longer-lasting memories, more accurate responses to people, situations and events."
Give yourself plenty of time as you go along to do the puzzles --and read the included answers and valuable explanations -- as well as to check out the various internet websites mentioned throughout the book -- including {theplayfulbrain.com}.
Although I checked out a library hardcover, I had to allot more time than the book's size suggested. Solving the puzzles can take more time than simple reading.
The book is now available in paperback, a convenience that interested readers will no doubt appreciate.
July 27, 2017
If your family thinks you spend too much time lolly-gagging around doing puzzles, this is the book for you! Any puzzle lover will enjoy it. Read about how different types of puzzles do different things for your thinking. Especially interesting to me was Chapter 8 - Time: Clock Time vs. Brain Time - where I got some amazing insight into why I am always late!!! Challenging puzzles sprinkled throughout the book. I want to actually buy this book so that I can write in it and solve the puzzles!
April 25, 2011
This book systematically explains how puzzles test different types of mental functions; memory, verbal, spatial, logical, abstract, perception, listening, motorskill, time estimation, emotional, mathematical, and creativity. The reader is encouraged to solve a variety of puzzles that illustrate each of these mental functions. They are fun, and some are more challenging than others. Each person is different; you might find spatial puzzles more challenging than verbal, while I find just the opposite. The author explains just which parts of the brain are used to solve each type of puzzle, and he logically explains why some types of puzzles are more difficult than others. He gives some evidence that practicing puzzles like these can help improve one's thinking abilities, and reduce mental deterioration later in life. This book is an easy read--and lots of fun!
October 14, 2020
The Playful Brain is a collaboration between puzzle designer Scott Kim and neuroscientist Richard Restak. It combines knowledge of neuroscience with the fun of solving puzzles.
For a while, people were obsessed with enhancing their brains. Brain games were in vogue. I owned Brain Age for the Nintendo DS, but I stopped playing it after I lost interest. I have plenty of books on the subject as well, with this book being one of them.
Restak discusses different aspects of cognition, and Kim designs a puzzle to develop that aspect. The text contains the answers. They range in difficulty from easy to devilishly hard.
Even if the book does not work to enhance your abilities, it is still fun to read and informative.
For a while, people were obsessed with enhancing their brains. Brain games were in vogue. I owned Brain Age for the Nintendo DS, but I stopped playing it after I lost interest. I have plenty of books on the subject as well, with this book being one of them.
Restak discusses different aspects of cognition, and Kim designs a puzzle to develop that aspect. The text contains the answers. They range in difficulty from easy to devilishly hard.
Even if the book does not work to enhance your abilities, it is still fun to read and informative.
August 27, 2013
It's fun. The brain guy explains parts of how your brain works, and different strengths or weaknesses people can have in those areas, and then the puzzle guy devises puzzles that work on that area of thinking.
The whole thing is based on the new brain science that we develop new brain connections, effectively becoming smarter or at least more skilled and efficient thinkers, when we use our brain and use different parts of our brain together. We also lose connections when we don't use and stimulate areas and connections in our brains.
There were all kinds of little "aha" or "huh" moments about how the brain works that I discussed with my wife and relatives. The earlier chapters are longer and wordier, occasionally just a teeny bit too much, but they are more informative as well. The later chapters become very short and are more showcases of different kinds of thinking puzzles. I really enjoyed this and can remember having little moments when I thought of how I could apply this in my classroom...but I forget many of the specifics already. I need a summary or something to help me remember some of what I read.
Anyway, I think a lot of you would like at least parts of this. You can skip brain technical stuff sometimes and just go to the puzzle sections and the brief explanations of how they help your brain.
The whole thing is based on the new brain science that we develop new brain connections, effectively becoming smarter or at least more skilled and efficient thinkers, when we use our brain and use different parts of our brain together. We also lose connections when we don't use and stimulate areas and connections in our brains.
There were all kinds of little "aha" or "huh" moments about how the brain works that I discussed with my wife and relatives. The earlier chapters are longer and wordier, occasionally just a teeny bit too much, but they are more informative as well. The later chapters become very short and are more showcases of different kinds of thinking puzzles. I really enjoyed this and can remember having little moments when I thought of how I could apply this in my classroom...but I forget many of the specifics already. I need a summary or something to help me remember some of what I read.
Anyway, I think a lot of you would like at least parts of this. You can skip brain technical stuff sometimes and just go to the puzzle sections and the brief explanations of how they help your brain.
July 5, 2011
I am reviewing this non fiction book about the neuroscience of how puzzles make us smarter. This is the first time I have seen actual science explaining how this makes us smarter and, as an amateur, very amateur neuroscience researcher, I am finding this book to be really interesting and smart. There are puzzles hidden throughout and most are quite challenging, but then the author gives the answer at the end of the chapter and explains why the puzzle makes you smarter and what kind of people the puzzle appeals to and whether it is spatial reasoning skills required to solve it or whether it is a language-based puzzle. Puzzles are a term used broadly here to relfect any sort of game that is mind-benidng and challenging.
April 22, 2013
Mostly about the parts of the brain that solve different kinds of puzzles rather than "how puzzles improve your mind."
Tips for solving puzzles:
1. Read the instructions twice.
2. Assess the challenge (hard/easy, interesting/boring, familiar/strange, intimidating/inviting) to know how to prepare to solve the puzzle.
3. Try something.
4. Persist.
5. Be systematic.
6. Be efficient.
7. Simplify.
8. Draw a diagram.
9. Change your strategy.
10. Get help.
Tips for solving puzzles:
1. Read the instructions twice.
2. Assess the challenge (hard/easy, interesting/boring, familiar/strange, intimidating/inviting) to know how to prepare to solve the puzzle.
3. Try something.
4. Persist.
5. Be systematic.
6. Be efficient.
7. Simplify.
8. Draw a diagram.
9. Change your strategy.
10. Get help.
February 7, 2011
This wasn't as good as I was expecting, but I still enjoyed it. It was a very quick read and had some thought-provoking chapters, for example, about the location of the brain that accounts for ideological bias.
April 18, 2013
I enjoyed this book as it brings out different ways that we think and then adds puzzles with each chapter to understand how it works. It is fun trying the puzzles to discover that way of thinking. I am often working on puzzles so this one captured me.
June 5, 2025
“The Playful Brain: The Surprising Science of How Puzzles Improve Your Mind” is a nonfiction book focusing on how interacting with and solving puzzles can challenge specific parts of the brain.
The book consists of an introduction, followed by fourteen chapters divided into three sections, conclusions, acknowledgments, resources, and an index.
In the introduction, author and neuroscientist Dr. Richard Restak explaining to the reader his interest in puzzles as a way to improve brain performance. After Restak realized that the book he wanted didn’t exist yet, he contacted envisioning a book which would consist of puzzles of every sort followed with an explanation of brain benefits while doing the puzzle. deciding to write this book which is meant to show how puzzles can activate specific parts of the brain in different ways. Puzzle and computer game designer Scott Kim assisted Restak by creating a variety of puzzles shown throughout the book meant to help the reader exercise their mind as well as learn different styles of thinking. achieve what is called cognitive complexity which means longer-lasting memories as well as more accurate responses to people, situations.
In part one, “Memory,” Restak introduces the concept of working memory, while Kim provides the reader with puzzles to improve their overall memory, logical thinking, and long-term memory.
In part two, “Perception,” Restak
introduces the concept of perpetual skill learning while Kim provides the reader with puzzles to improve their visual thinking, spatial thinking, listening, and motor skills.
In part three, “Cognition,” Restak describes the importance of being able separate things into categories while Kim provides the reader with puzzles on thinking in words, logic, emotion, mathematics, and ends by teaching the reader how to create ambigrams.
As I finished this book, I was enlightened by the various puzzles provided throughout the, entertained by the explanations behind how each puzzle is solved, and at times frustrated at not being able to solve a puzzle without having to look at the explanation. This is definitely a must-read book for people of all ages, especially those interested in improving their brain health in fun ways as they grow older.
The book consists of an introduction, followed by fourteen chapters divided into three sections, conclusions, acknowledgments, resources, and an index.
In the introduction, author and neuroscientist Dr. Richard Restak explaining to the reader his interest in puzzles as a way to improve brain performance. After Restak realized that the book he wanted didn’t exist yet, he contacted envisioning a book which would consist of puzzles of every sort followed with an explanation of brain benefits while doing the puzzle. deciding to write this book which is meant to show how puzzles can activate specific parts of the brain in different ways. Puzzle and computer game designer Scott Kim assisted Restak by creating a variety of puzzles shown throughout the book meant to help the reader exercise their mind as well as learn different styles of thinking. achieve what is called cognitive complexity which means longer-lasting memories as well as more accurate responses to people, situations.
In part one, “Memory,” Restak introduces the concept of working memory, while Kim provides the reader with puzzles to improve their overall memory, logical thinking, and long-term memory.
In part two, “Perception,” Restak
introduces the concept of perpetual skill learning while Kim provides the reader with puzzles to improve their visual thinking, spatial thinking, listening, and motor skills.
In part three, “Cognition,” Restak describes the importance of being able separate things into categories while Kim provides the reader with puzzles on thinking in words, logic, emotion, mathematics, and ends by teaching the reader how to create ambigrams.
As I finished this book, I was enlightened by the various puzzles provided throughout the, entertained by the explanations behind how each puzzle is solved, and at times frustrated at not being able to solve a puzzle without having to look at the explanation. This is definitely a must-read book for people of all ages, especially those interested in improving their brain health in fun ways as they grow older.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 24, 2017
A fun and interesting book on how to stretch your brain by various types of puzzles.
August 27, 2019
A little tough to read at times, but in general insightful and fun.
Want to read
June 5, 2024DMPL HOLD 2024_05_30. Recommended in Solms Hidden Spring.
Subtitle says it all. Puzzle exercises to improve your mental skills. Not about PLAY in the broad sense.
Subtitle says it all. Puzzle exercises to improve your mental skills. Not about PLAY in the broad sense.
January 11, 2025
I liked how this book gave information on how the different parts of the brain process different types of puzzles. It was very informative and fun!
July 11, 2014
What a hoot! Loved this for the discussion of puzzles and the variety of them. Seems like a good source book if you want to come up with a wide mix for, I don't know, a puzzle hunt? Note that the hardback edition that I read contains some errors in the puzzle solutions, but they seem to be fixed in the Google Books edition.
January 7, 2014
At first I didn't like this book very much, but once I got past the first chapter, I became intrigued with the authors points of view. Since this is a library book, but I do eventually want to purchase a copy, I will have to check it out again to finish it.
Want to read
August 11, 2011Richard Restak, medical doctor and leading neuroscientist collaborated with Scott Kim, noted puzzle master explore how puzzles canchange, reshape, and strengthen brains. I was drawn to this book as a result of personal experiences.
February 3, 2011
This is more a workbook than a regular book. Be prepared to take the time to work through all the puzzles. It's good for you.
March 2, 2011
It was an interesting subject, but kind of a boring read. He could certainly have made it more interesting.
Read
May 25, 2011rec'd by candi
August 7, 2011
Was expecting this to be a bit better, and while it was interesting I found myself impatiently skipping over parts. Must be my brain!!
March 22, 2012
Interesting look at how our brains work and what working puzzles, or at least attempting to work puzzles, can do to help our brain power.
At times a bit dry. Otherwise very informative.
At times a bit dry. Otherwise very informative.
Read
August 19, 2012While I love puzzles, and while this one has some good ones, I have to agree with the prominently placed blurb on the cover, which reads "Informative."
Currently reading
September 4, 2012I am always interested in the human brain. The co-authors describe how solving puzzles help your brain.
September 17, 2015
Cool examples.
February 7, 2016
This was enjoyable, although I would have preferred a higher ratio of puzzles to science! Still, the variety was great, and I could really tell which parts of my brain need work.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews