Rubik’s Cube
Credit: © Anastasiia Moiseieva, Shutterstock

What has six colors, six faces, and can frustrate most people? A Rubik’s Cube! Sunday, January 29th, is National Puzzle Day! Puzzles are fun activities that are good for your brain. It exercises your brain to think in different ways. There are many different types of puzzles: crossword puzzles, sudoku, riddles, and more. Rubik’s Cube is a physical and mental puzzle that requires a lot of practice!

Rubik’s Cube is a puzzle game invented by the Hungarian professor and puzzle enthusiast Ernö Rubik in 1974. The puzzle takes the form of a cube. Each face of the cube features a three-by-three grid of colored blocks. The blocks are connected to a central core in such a way that rows of blocks can be moved by twisting. Play begins by twisting the cube at random to scramble the colors. The player solves the puzzle by returning each side of the cube to a single color. Rubik’s Cube has become a pop culture icon. It has earned a place in the Strong National Toy Hall of Fame in Rochester, New York, and the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

Rubik’s Cube puzzle
Credit: © ChristianChan/Shutterstock

Rubik was born July 13, 1944, in Budapest, Hungary. He trained as an architect and later taught at the Academy of Applied Arts and Crafts in Budapest. In 1974, Rubik used an early version of his puzzle game to teach his students about three-dimensional movement. His students loved the game. Rubik began selling his invention under the name Magic Cube in Hungarian toy shops in 1977. By 1980, his invention caught the attention of the Ideal Toy and Novelty Company, which licensed it. The company renamed the puzzle Rubik’s Cube. In just under two years, they sold over 100 million cubes.

The simple cube has been modified a few times over the years. Some later versions include larger grids of colors and different shapes. The construction of the Rubik’s Cube has also been improved—making the puzzle easier to twist and more durable—to aid in speedcubing competitions. In speedcubing, Rubik’s Cube fans compete to see who can solve the puzzle the fastest. Occasionally, additional challenges are added. These challenges may include solving the puzzle one-handed or even while juggling three cubes at the same time. In 1982, the puzzle was solved in 22.9 seconds at the first-ever Rubik’s Cube World Championships in Hungary. In later competitions, the puzzle has been solved in under 4 seconds.

Crossword puzzle
Credit: © Julia Sudnitskaya, Shutterstock

Grab your pencil, or pen if you dare! Crossword puzzles are popular word games. You can find these smart configurations of black and white tiles in your local newspaper, in book and grocery stores, and online! Many people turn the page or open the app to do certain crossword puzzles every day. Some people play so often that they know the answers to common definitions or clues that frame the puzzle. For example, “slice of history” almost always has three squares. The answer is ERA. Just like the squares and words interlock, sharing common letters, crosswords are here to stay.

American journalist Arthur Wynne created the first modern crossword puzzle, which appeared in the Sunday New York World newspaper on December 21, 1913. However, crosswords were around before this one was was officially printed. Crossword puzzles are over 109 years old! The puzzle became popular in the United States and spread to other countries. Today, crosswords appear in many languages throughout the world. Puzzle championships are often held in the United States and other countries.

In 1924, The New York Times supposed that crossword puzzles were a fad that would end. However, they went on to become a favorite of cruciverbalists, people who do crossword puzzles. Will Shortz, the crossword editor for the New York Times, sold his first puzzle when he was 14 years old. He is the only person that has a degree in Enigmatology, the study of puzzles. He graduated from Indiana University in 1974.

If you have some time, try a crossword puzzle out! Studies show solving crossword puzzles builds your brain. Most crossword puzzlers share that they learn at least one new thing every time they complete a puzzle! Try it out in pencil first in case you need to go back and erase a few guesses.

October 25, 2017

In late September, a team of European neuroscientists (people who study the nervous system) reported that a patient who had been in a persistent vegetative state (PVS) for 15 years showed signs of consciousness after receiving a new nerve-stimulation therapy. The patient, a 35-year-old man who suffered severe brain injuries in a car accident, regained a level of consciousness once thought impossible. This pioneering treatment challenges the widely accepted medical view that people who have been in a persistent vegetative state for a year or more can never recover. The scientists suggest that innovative treatment can bring about changes even in the most severe cases of PVS. The results of the treatment were published in the journal Current Biology.

Electroencephalograph (EEG) images show an increase of activity across the brain, as evidenced by the yellow and orange colors, following vagus nerve stimulation (VNS). Credit: © Martina Corazzol, Guillaume Lio, Arthur Lefevre, Gianluca Deiana, Laurence Tell, Nathalie André-Obadia, Pierre Bourdillon, Marc Guenot, Michel Desmurget, Jacques Luauté, Angela Sirigu

A persistent vegetative state is a rare but serious type of coma. PVS is caused by widespread damage to areas of the brain’s cerebral cortex and thalamus. These structures govern awareness of the self and its surroundings. The damage can result from head injury, stroke, or a lack of oxygen caused by drowning or cardiac arrest (heartbeat stoppage). People in a persistent vegetative state may have their eyes open, but they are not awake. The body’s automatic functions—such as breathing and heartbeat—continue even though the person is unconscious. However, a PVS patient cannot think, talk, see, hear, feel, eat, move voluntarily, or respond to other people.

The pioneering new therapy was developed by focusing on the vagus nerve, one of the 12 pairs of cranial nerves that connect directly to the brain. The vagus nerve connects the brain to almost all the vital organs in the body. It is also linked directly to two regions of the brain that scientists know play roles in alertness and consciousness. The scientists hypothesized that electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve may affect consciousness in PVS patients. They implanted a small electrical device in the patient’s neck. After one month of vagus nerve stimulation, the patient had achieved a level of minimal consciousness, and a dramatic improvement in brain activity.

The scientists now plan to conduct broader studies involving electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve. They hope to develop effective therapies to restore more PVS patients to consciousness. The research may also help scientists better understand how consciousness itself arises from the cells and structure of the brain. Understanding how the human conscious mind develops from the nervous system is considered so difficult that scientists have labeled it the “hard problem” of the mind.

October 6, 2014

Three scientists who discovered how virtually all creatures, including people, know where they are in their environment and how they find their way from place to place have won the 2014 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine. Half of the $1.1-million prize was awarded to British-American physiological psychologist John O’Keefe, director of the Sainsbury Welcome Centre in Neural Circuits and Behaviour at University College London. The other half of the prize was awarded to the Norwegian wife-and-husband team of psychologist May-Britt Moser, director of the Centre For Neural Computation, and neurophysiologist Edvard Moser, director of the Kavli Insitute for Systems Neuroscience, both at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, Norway. The Nobel Committee said the scientists had “discovered an ‘inner GPS‘ in the brain that makes it possible to orient ourselves in space,” demonstrating that brain cells are involved in our ability to know and perceive the world.

O’Keefe discovered the first component of that system–nerve cells that he named place cells–while using rats to study how the brain controls behavior. He found that these cells, located in a part of the brain called the hippocampus, fired (become activated) when a rat was at a specific place in a “room.” Other place cells fired when the rat was at other places. The cells, O’Keefe concluded, created a map of the room.

O’Keefe’s and the Mosers’ work on the role of the hippocampus in the brain’s navigation system has helped other scientists studying the causes and effects of Alzheimer’s disease. Patients with Alzheimer’s often lose their ability to find their way from place to place and recognize their surroundings. (© Phototake/Alamy Images)

The Mosers discovered the second component of the navigational system–another type of nerve cell called grid cells–in a nearby region of the brain called the entorhinal cortex. These cells fired when the rat passed certain locations in the room, forming a hexagonal grid that allowed for spatial navigation (purposeful movements within a certain space). More recent studies of the human brain using brain imaging techniques and in neurosurgery have revealed that both place cells and grid cells exist there as well.

The Nobel Committee said the scientists’ work in discovering the brain’s positioning system marks a major shift in the understand of how groups of brain cells work together to perform such major cognitive functions as making and recalling memories, thinking, and planning. The research has helped other scientists trying to gain a better understanding of Alzheimer’s disease and other conditions that affect cognitive functions. Patients in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease often lose their ability to find their way and fail to recognize even familiar environments.

Additional articles in World Book:

• Dementia
• Nervous system (How the nervous system works)

April 2, 2013

A bold new research initiative to understand the inner workings of the human brain was announced today by President Barack Obama. The research initiative, called the Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN), aims to record and map all the connections between neurons (nerve cells) in the human brain and understand how they work together to form the mind. Researchers hope the project will lead to new ways to diagnose and treat brain diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, autism, epilepsy, Parkinson disease, and schizophrenia.

In the brain, neurons communicate with one another through electrical and chemical signals. Unlike the brain, however, the mind is not a distinct physical object. A mind enables animals to react to, and make sense of, their surroundings. In human beings, the mind also involves internal thoughts and feelings. Discovering how the mind develops from the nervous system is considered so difficult that scientists have labeled it the “hard problem” of the mind. President Obama has designated the BRAIN project to tackle this problem as one of the “grand challenges for the 21st Century.”

Areas of the brain active in the processing of words are highlighted in a functional MRI of a human brain. (Center for the Study of Learning, Georgetown University)

A senior White House science advisor compared the BRAIN mission to the Human Genome Project–an international scientific program completed in 2003 that analyzed the chemical instructions that control heredity in human beings. Three government agencies, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and the National Science Foundation (NSF) will work together with $100 million to spearhead the project. President Obama stated that investment and expertise from several private research foundations will also be involved in the project.

Modern medical technology, including positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), can produce detailed images of a living human brain. However, scientists involved in the BRAIN project will need to develop new technologies to map and record the activity of individual neurons in the brain. Such technologies do not currently exist. Other researchers will examine the ethical implications of advancements that come from the BRAIN project. For example, as scientists learn how decisions are made in the brain, they may discover ways to predict or even influence certain behaviors in people.

Additional World Book articles:

• Consciousness
• Mental illness
• Unconscious
• What Is the Nature of Consciousness? (a special report)

March 22, 2012

National Football League (NFL) Commissioner Roger Goodell announced severe disciplinary actions against the management and coaching staff of the New Orleans Saints for running a program that rewarded members with cash bonuses for injuring opposing players. From 2009 through the 2011 football season, New Orleans coaches operated a “bounty system” that targeted specific players for injury. The cash bounty was increased if a key player on the opposing team was injured and had to leave a game. The NFL investigation found that bounties up to $10,000 were placed on opposing teams’ quarterbacks in key games during that time. Targeted quarterbacks included Cam Newton (Carolina Panthers), Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay Packers), Kurt Warner (Arizona Cardinals), and Brett Favre (Minnesota Vikings).

New Orleans head coach Sean Payton was suspended without pay for the entire 2012 season. Saints defensive coordinator Greg Williams, who was found primarily responsible for operating the bounty program, was suspended indefinitely. Williams joined the St. Louis Rams in 2012. The Saints’ general manager also received an eight-game suspension, and the team will have to pay a substantial fine. Commissioner Goodell stated that their actions were a severe violation of league rules and constituted conduct detrimental to the league and players.

Members of the Saints team were paid a bounty if they injured such players as quarterback Brett Favre (holding ball) during a game. (Courtesy of Icon Sports Media Inc.)

The unprecedented penalties were announced at a time when the NFL is facing increasing criticism over its commitment to player health and safety. In December 2011, 21 former NFL players claimed in a lawsuit that they had suffered severe and permanent brain damage from concussions received in games. The players claim the NFL misrepresented the long-term health consequences of head injuries to players. They also claim the NFL promoted a more violent style of play to attract fans. In recent years, nearly two dozen former NFL players have been diagnosed after death with a progressive brain disorder known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Many had struggled with depression, memory loss, mental confusion, and other symptoms. Many medical experts believe that the CTE in these players resulted from brain trauma received during their NFL careers.

Additional World Book articles:

• Dementia
• Mental illness