Jessica Biel posted a picture on Instagram of she and husband Justin Timberlake
playing Scrabble. In it, the couple have their game faces on and white wine at the ready. “I played ‘sardine’ and got the 50 bonus points!” Biel captioned her photo. “Guess who is no longer undefeated... #scrabblebrag.” That undefeated reference leads us to believe that this isn’t the first time that Biel and Timberlake have thrown down the tiles. Research has shown that playing Scrabble is good for your brain. Last year, Gizmodo reported on a study from Canada's University of Calgary that found Scrabble players used a different part of their brains to perform a certain language-related task. Versus non-Scrabble players, individuals that did play the puzzle game used memory and visual perception centers instead of the language centers of the brain to solve the task. The researchers highlight this result to show the importance of the brain’s flexibility. Other less-scientific types point to anecdotal evidence of Scrabble being good for a marriage. “During our three decades of married life, Scrabble has kept us together, settled our disputes, relieved our tensions, provided a safe arena for competition, and given us the words with which to talk through differences,” Shira Dicker and her husband, Ari L. Goldman, wrote in an essay for the Wall Street Journal called “The Secret To A Happy Marriage: Scrabble.” The couple has been giving Scrabble sets as engagement gifts to friends and family for over 20 years. That brings us back to Biel and Timberlake. Whether they are doing it to flex their brains, work on their relationship, or just wind down from their busy celebrity lives, a friendly game of Scrabble seems like a perfect choice. The wine probably doesn't hurt, either.
playing Scrabble. In it, the couple have their game faces on and white wine at the ready. “I played ‘sardine’ and got the 50 bonus points!” Biel captioned her photo. “Guess who is no longer undefeated... #scrabblebrag.” That undefeated reference leads us to believe that this isn’t the first time that Biel and Timberlake have thrown down the tiles. Research has shown that playing Scrabble is good for your brain. Last year, Gizmodo reported on a study from Canada's University of Calgary that found Scrabble players used a different part of their brains to perform a certain language-related task. Versus non-Scrabble players, individuals that did play the puzzle game used memory and visual perception centers instead of the language centers of the brain to solve the task. The researchers highlight this result to show the importance of the brain’s flexibility. Other less-scientific types point to anecdotal evidence of Scrabble being good for a marriage. “During our three decades of married life, Scrabble has kept us together, settled our disputes, relieved our tensions, provided a safe arena for competition, and given us the words with which to talk through differences,” Shira Dicker and her husband, Ari L. Goldman, wrote in an essay for the Wall Street Journal called “The Secret To A Happy Marriage: Scrabble.” The couple has been giving Scrabble sets as engagement gifts to friends and family for over 20 years. That brings us back to Biel and Timberlake. Whether they are doing it to flex their brains, work on their relationship, or just wind down from their busy celebrity lives, a friendly game of Scrabble seems like a perfect choice. The wine probably doesn't hurt, either.
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