Mind Games

There's an article from the BBC today about how regularly playing Tetris may have significant benefits. According to a study conducted by the Mind Research Network, regularly playing the game, for 30 minutes a day over a three month period, thickens the cerebral cortex - the part of the brain that plays a key role in memory, attention, perceptual awareness, thought, language and consciousness. The results suggest that the idea that the number of neurones [brain cells] in the brain was fixed after a certain age is not true.

Forget 30 minutes a day for three months. I wonder what effect on the brain playing Betfair for several hours a day over a four year period has done for my brain? Studies have shown that if you practise something over time, the brain becomes more efficient. Watch the markets move on Betfair for long enough and you see the same patterns repeating, and of course, when you know how a market will move, you can profit from that knowledge.

I believe I have written before about how Betfair can be likened to an interactive computer game. There's you pitting your wits against other individuals somewhere else in the world, each person trying to accumulate points. Like any game, if you have the pre-requisite skills, with practice, dedication and the right approach, it can be mastered and become profitable.

What is a little concerning is that studies on the brains of London cabbies doing the Knowledge show that while some parts of the brain become engaged and benefit, other parts of the brain decrease so that "while some parts of the brain show an increase in cells, there's a cost."

I'm hoping the decrease in brain cells isn't affecting anything too important, but if I need an excuse for forgetting an anniversary or a loved one's birthday, this could be it.