Brainteasers and brain puzzles are great ways to push the mind and stretch one of the body’s most important muscles to its limits.
They can come in different shapes and sizes. Some are analytical, some are observational, and others are mathematical.
This brainteaser, which featured on Lee Mack’s ITV quiz show, is less a riddle and has left several people stumped.
It has been said that only percent of the country can get this question right.
What do the following four words – into, therefore, evaluate, and benign – have in common?
Did you work out the answer? No worries if not, it may become more obvious if you say them out loud.
What’s more, it is possible to work out the answer even if one word from the sequence is removed.
The answer to the question is that each word sounds like a number. Into sounds like two, therefore sounds like four, evaluate sounds like eight, and benign sounds like nine.
This is just one example of the form a brainteaser can take and some experts have suggested that over a long period of time, they could help keep the mind sharper for longer.
The reason for this is because brainteasers are like physical exercise for the brain, they help keep it fit and healthy.
The healthier the brain the less likely someone may be to develop a neurodegenerative condition such as dementia or Alzheimer’s.
This isn’t to say brainteasers can prevent the onset of dementia, other factors can have a much bigger influence, but they could have a positive effect on the mind.
