The brains of chess players have been a rich honeycomb for neuroscientists ever since modern technology allows them to be analyzed. Several studies of the last ten years agree that they are more powerful than those of the normal population in certain areas. But neurosurgeon Cristóbal Blanco, 41, is convinced that the differences are much greater after studying twenty high-level chess players’ brains for three years, and a similar number of people unrelated to chess.
With dual nationality, he was a university professor in his country of origin, Venezuela, before currently working in several hospitals in Córdoba, after passing through Brazil, the United States, France and Germany. In the study, carried out in Córdoba by a group of neuroscientists, the Reina Sofía and San Juan de Dios hospitals, the Maimonides Institutes for Biomedical Research and of Red Cross Neurosciencesas well as the private company HT Médica.
Ask. What has the study consisted of, almost ready to publish?
Response. Different imaging tests with associated neuropsychological scales to assess in depth all areas, both gray and white matter, and their relationship with higher brain functions. We have measured the thickness of each zone, as well as the connections between them, which are known as the white fiber. At this time there is no similar work in the scientific literature.
P. Do chess players have a higher IQ than the normal population?
R. Yes, but that conclusion is not among the most important of our study. In addition, when it comes to establishing it, it is not so simple. Even less to determine whether those people were already smarter before playing chess. However, for me there is no doubt that frequent chess practice increases that ratio, by an average of 20%.
P. Are the anatomical differences between the brains of chess players and the average are significant?
R. That’s how it is. There are significant results in the temporal, frontal and parietal lobes. We already started from the hypothesis that there would be some differences that fit very well with the logic. But the conclusion of the study is that chess players have a large part of the brain more developed, much larger than we expected.
P. A 2011 study from the RIKEN Brain Science Institute, in Japan, concluded that chess players use the precuneus and the caudate nucleus more. Y another from the University of Chengdu (China)in 2012, showing more activity on what we might call the brain’s autopilot, the default network.
R. Correct. Our study follows this line, where there are other areas that are also involved, not just the precuneus. As for the default network, although computer programs do not allow us to measure this exactly, we know that chess players use more than the average that part of the brain that is activated when we are resting, cleaning it. And that they do it in a beneficial way, because this network is associated with Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and some psychiatric diseases. This may be a mechanism to be more protected than average against them. Which may be one of the reasons why chess is working well in prisons in various countries and with various types of mental illness, such as schizophrenia.
There is no doubt that frequent chess practice increases IQ by an average of 20%.
P. Are the differences proportional to the category of the players studied?
R. That is one of the most interesting conclusions. The minimum bar that we set to choose the studied brains is that they be a player with no less than 1,800 Elo points [un aficionado de nivel medio-alto] able to play a game blindfolded [memorizando en qué casilla está cada pieza durante toda la partida]. Between that level and those with 2,400 [nivel internacional bajo, casi profesional], there are substantial differences in some of the basal ganglia and this can affect the amygdala, which has to do with emotions and decision making. But from the anatomical point of view we do not see substantial differences between a player of 2,400 and another of 2,700 (world elite). That is, the difference in category between the two is not due to their brain structure but to other factors; it could be, for example, by the number of hours that both invest in their training.
P. In what specific functions do these important differences that you have seen with respect to the general population translate?
R. Decision making under pressure, in stress situations, because very high level players have a more developed amygdala. Hence, they are able to make the best play possible, even if the environmental pressure and the clock, and the emotions at that moment are tremendous. That, in addition, entails a great control of the first impulse, of impulsiveness. And if we leave elite chess for a moment and talk about the social and educational applications of chess, this point is of great importance in a world where, for example, we already have a worrying problem with the misuse of social networks, by children and adults.
P. You mentioned Alzheimer’s earlier. Among other studies on the usefulness of chess as a mental gym to delay brain aging, one that lasted 21 years stands out, from the Albert Einstein Institute in New York, where it was the activity that most increased cognitive reserve, a deposit that, if full, prevents or delay senile dementia. Does your study of him corroborate that conclusion?
R. Totally. Chess players have more hypertrophied structures related to cognitive reserve than the general population. In other words, just as a footballer can have his femur very protected and strengthened by his daily activity, we can logically deduce that chess players are protected against the formation of beta-amyloid plaques and other problems prior to the involvement of the hippocampus and related adjacent areas. with the loss of memory that ends up producing Alzheimer’s.
P. So, along the lines of logical deductions, the probability that those chess players in your study have a lot of cognitive reserve for reasons other than chess is close to zero.
R. Correct. It would be a case similar to the famous study of London taxi drivers, who had hypertrophied hippocampus, where memory is. It is obvious that the cause is their daily work, which forced them to remember an enormous number of streets and their geographical location. I’m afraid that if that study were repeated today, the results would be very different, due to the massive use of GPS.
P. I deduce that playing chess on a tablet or mobile develops the brain less than on a tabletop…
R. That’s how it is. When you move a piece by hand on a real board you are activating more parts of the brain than if you just press a piece or a square on a tablet.
P. And what can be done to confirm that playing recreational chess, not high competition, delays brain aging?
R. A study directed to that end with amateur beginners or low technical level. We can start from a fairly solid hypothesis: the mere fact of mentally connecting with chess and playing from time to time is already beneficial. But it would be very important to establish a minimum of practice; for example, how many hours a week do you have to spend on chess for there to be a significant increase in cognitive reserve?
P. After studying the brains of very high-level chess players so deeply, what other conclusions do you find remarkable?
R. energy efficiency. Just as a long-distance runner can achieve high performance with a low heart rate, chess players perform very intensely without tiring proportionally. This is also influenced by pattern recognition.
The hypothesis has emerged that chess can also prevent, delay or soften Parkinson’s, just as it happens with Alzheimer’s
P. For example, if someone tells me “it was an Indo-Benoni Defense with the bishop on g4”, I am visualizing a position with 30 pieces and pawns occupying a single memory unit in my brain. But a non-chess player would need to occupy 30 memory units to remember that entire position.
R. Exactly. When I see Magnus Carlsen play [el campeón del mundo] I have a feeling that he doesn’t really start to get tired until the third hour of play, because he has a prodigious memory based on pattern recognition in the tens of thousands of games he has seen throughout his life. And that gives you a huge head start.
P. What other needs for more studies are created from the conclusions of yours?
R. The hypothesis has emerged that chess can also prevent, delay or soften Parkinson’s, just as it happens with Alzheimer’s. Because we have seen that chess influences the modulation of the basal ganglia, which are altered with Parkinson’s, and that in the brains we have studied they are increased, as if they had more connections. That is a relevant indication to create the hypothesis on a matter that nothing was known about until now.
P. Any difference between male or female brains?
R. My study did not have a large enough sample of women to draw valid conclusions. In fact, this matter also deserves a specific study. My intuitive opinion is that, if we compare women and men who are at the same level in the world list, there will be no brain anatomical differences in the areas that have the most to do with chess.
P. Are there brain anatomical differences between different ages?
R. That is another clue of great interest, which prompts further study. The age degeneration of the chess players studied is different from that of the brains of the non-chess player population. For example, players lose less brain mass at the same age.
P. But then, how is it explained that the decline of elite players begins at 35-40 years, as in other sports?
R. For other reasons. For example, that the heart is no longer as powerful at age 50, and therefore brain irrigation is worse. My hypothesis is that anatomical deterioration of the brain is not the main cause.
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