Writing by Hand May Improve Brain Connectivity
When you need to remember something, do you write it down on paper?
Probably not — it's a lot more likely you'd just type a note on your phone, right?
For years, new technology from computers to tablets has been replacing writing by hand. In 2016, Finland even stopped teaching cursive writing in schools to teach typing instead.
But is our move away from writing by hand affecting our brains?
A new study says it might be. Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology asked 36 university students to write down information using either a digital pen or a keyboard.
They also looked at the students' electrical brain activity, and found that their brain connectivity patterns were much more elaborate when writing by hand than when using a keyboard. Past research has found that this connectivity is key to helping the brain make memories and record new information.
The researchers say the combination of both seeing information and feeling the movement of the body may encourage brain connectivity, and help us learn.
One of the researchers, Audrey van der Meer, told PsyPost that forming letters by hand also helps children learn the difference between very similar letters like "b" and "d," because their bodies get to feel what it's like to make the shapes.
The researchers say that although it's important to teach children how to use new technology, it's also important for them to keep learning how to write by hand.
But it's also important to know what type of writing is best for what situation.
"There is some evidence that students learn more and remember better when taking handwritten lecture notes, while using a computer with a keyboard may be more practical when writing a long text or essay," van der Meer said.
