Empty Board

Avoiding Alzheimer's
July 7, 2003
by William Cobb

The latest issue of the New England Journal of Medicine reports solid evidence that playing board games significantly lowers your risk of developing various kinds of dementia, including Alzheimer's (see "A Go Game A Day Keeps The Doctor Away" above). Naturally, this is very good news, but the go community already knew about this, thanks to research led by Yasuda Yasutoshi in Japan. Although US researchers were unaware of go, it is obviously good for this purpose, but it has broader uses in this area. I have been running a go program for over a year in Washington, DC, at a center for people diagnosed with chronic mental illness. The impact is dramatic. People who usually are seriously withdrawn and passive become animated and actively interact with each other and with me when we're playing team games of capture go on a big demo board. Go has distinctive advantages in this sort of context. Team games involving everyone allow one leader to engage a large group continuously. Moreover, the rules of play for capture go are very simple and anyone can participate, including people who are barely able to place a stone on an intersection. Becoming part of an activity that involves other people and is an exciting, complex process is a healthy and beneficial experience for people who tend to be very isolated. The fact that the game takes people out of themselves in this way is one of the most obvious benefits of go. The NEJM report was concerned about people with no symptoms of dementia, while my program deals with people who already have definite symptoms, but that is another of the advantages of go. In order to play a game like chess, you need a lot of mental acuity, but capture go can be played by anyone. So go offers hope to people for whom chess is not a possibility. The go community should make a greater effort to introduce this amazing game to care givers who work with people with mental disabilities and challenges.

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