The Cube and the Cortex: Building Cognitive Resilience through Puzzles, 3D Motor Skills and Neuroplasticity by Paula Zheng
Join us this September for an interactive workshop bridging cognitive science and hands-on problem solving. Led by Paula Zheng, a researcher from the National Institute of Education (NIE) and the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, this session explores how tactile, 3D motor skill games such as the Rubik's cube stimulate neuroplasticity.
Whether you are an academic, a student, or simply curious about brain health, you will discover the neurological mechanics behind cognitive resilience. We will dive into how manipulating 3D motor puzzles acts as a rigorous workout for the brain, enhancing focus, spatial awareness and mental adaptability. Walk away with practical, neuroscience based strategies to actively strengthen your mind through continuous, structured engagement, beginning with a single session and continuing in fifteen minutes a day. Cubes and all learning materials are provided, and no experience is needed.
Paula Zheng is a postgraduate student and researcher at the National Institute of Education (NIE), Nanyang Technological University, in a joint programme with the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine. Her field is the Science of Learning, the interdisciplinary meeting point of neuroscience, cognitive psychology and education, which examines how the human brain physically encodes, processes and retains information, and applies those biological insights to cognitive development, memory retention and practical learning strategies.
Her work centres on cognitive reserve, neuroplasticity and intrinsic motivation: why sustained, effortful novelty builds a buffer against age-related decline, and how the brain's reward system can be deliberately designed rather than waited for. She teaches this as a three-part public lecture, Reshaping Learning Power.
Her authority comes from living the science as a lifelong learner: she took up cognitive and memory training at 32, learned to solve the Rubik's cube at 35, and is today one of the few women in Singapore who can solve one blindfolded. She founded KogniPlay to turn that practice into method, an intergenerational programme that teaches the Rubik's cube as cognitive training for families, schools and seniors.