Jigsaw puzzles ignite a passionate debate: are they a joyful challenge or a frustrating mess? A ten-time UK champion shares lightning-speed tips amid thrilling competition anecdotes. Delve into the brain's inner workings as experts reveal the role of the hippocampus in recognizing shapes and colors. Discover why women excel in puzzle-solving and how similar cognitive skills connect us to clever crows. Whether for focus or creativity, the allure of jigsaws offers both fun and a workout for the mind!
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question_answer ANECDOTE
Early Puzzle Prodigy
As a child, Sarah Mills would complete puzzles face down.
This early aptitude foreshadowed her future as a 10-time British Jigsaw Champion.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Starting a Puzzle
Start by focusing on a distinct color or pattern that stands out.
Group similar pieces together before integrating them into the larger puzzle.
insights INSIGHT
Pattern Recognition
Pattern recognition, crucial for jigsaw puzzles, is an ancient survival trait.
This ability helps animals distinguish prey, forage, and navigate their environment.
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For their fans, jigsaw puzzles are a satisfying challenge, a focus, a chance to put everything else aside for a moment and be creative. But for other people they’re a frustrating jumble of random shapes and colours, a pointless task which is best left in the box.
CrowdScience listener Heather is definitely a fan. She loves doing jigsaw puzzles and she wants to know why some people are so good at them. What skills do you need to find a pattern amongst all those shapes and colours? How do our brains, eyes and hands assemble the fragments into the finished article? And why do we enjoy doing them anyway?
Presenter Alex Lathbridge puts together the pieces to answer Heather’s question. He sits down to work on a jigsaw with Sarah Mills, the ten-times UK jigsaw puzzling champion (yes... competitive jigsaw puzzling really is a thing!) As he watches Sarah complete the puzzle at lightning speed he gets a few of her top tips.
So what’s going on in our brains when we’re doing a jigsaw puzzle? How do we recognise and process colour and shape? Prof Mark Mattson from Johns Hopkins University in the USA has the answer. And it’s all to do with a little seahorse-shaped part of the brain called the hippocampus.
Alex also explores the effect of jigsaws on our brains with neuropsychologist Dr Patrick Fissler. He’s carried out research to investigate the benefits of jigsaw puzzles on our brains as we grow older.
Both listener Heather and ten-times-champion Sarah seem to be better at jigsaws than Alex is. So, based on that sample size of three, women are superior puzzlers compared to men! But has anybody actually cast the net wider to see if that’s really the case? Alex talks to Daniela Aguilar from the University of Lethbridge in Canada about her study to investigate exactly that – and she reveals the results.
Heather’s also wondering if any other species enjoy puzzles. And it seems they do! Alex meets Dr Cody McCoy from the University of Chicago to find out about the optimistic, tool-using crows of New Caledonia. From crows to competitive puzzlers, it seems we all relish a challenge!
Presenter: Alex Lathbridge
Producer: Jeremy Grange
Editor: Cathy Edwards
Studio Manager: Bob Nettles
Production Co-ordinator: Ishmael Soriano
CrowdScience