We’ve always known that playing bingo is fun, entertaining and exciting but now research is proving that bingo is also good for maintaining mental agility as we get older. This is important as it will raise cognitive skills for longer than those who do not exercise their brains and minds. A study done by the Psychology department of the University of Southampton showed how bingo can help.
Tests showed that older players did consistently better in many of the tests, particularly when it came to accuracy. Of course, the test was only conducted with 112 people in the sample, divided between those of 18-40 and 60-82 so the sample is not only too small for real statistical evidence, they left out quite a large age range.
One thing which wasn’t tested in this study was the effect of the socialization aspects of playing bingo. That is the predominant factor in bingo’s popularity, both online and offline, according to most polls of bingo players. One wonders if cognitive function is improved with those who chat over those who do not. Interesting thought, isn’t it?
