Photo by Joel Timothy on Unsplash
If you’re one of those few remaining well-bred humans who responds to gifts, dinner invitations, and other delightful acts of kindness and friendship with a thank-you note – written by hand, in ink, of course – then you may be doing more than most to stave off cognitive decline.
That’s one implication from a fascinating study that compared how handwriting and typing affect the brain. Researchers in Norway asked 36 students, who were connected to electrodes to measure their brain activity, to write or type 15 words that were displayed on a screen. When the students wrote by hand, they activated connection patterns in areas of the brain that controlled vision, motor functions, and processing sensory information. Typing the words resulted in minimal activity in those regions.
“We don’t see that [synchronized activity] in typewriting at all,” said Audrey van der Meer, professor of neuropsychology and co-author of the study at Norwegian University of Science and Technology. She suggests that writing by hand is a richer process neurobiologically and that the richness has cognitive benefits.
Her research follows an earlier study that compared how students retained information. Half the participants were pen-and-paper notetakers and half took notes using keyboards. The groups scored similarly on factual information, but the manual notetakers scored far higher in recalling the conceptual ideas.
What makes the difference, says van der Meer, is that most typists try to record information verbatim. “It kind of goes in through your ears and comes out through your fingertips, but you don’t process the incoming information,” she says. Taking notes by hand is slower, making it impossible to take down every word, so the notetaker must actively process the information – prioritizing key points, consolidating, and relating it to what they already know. This keeps the notetaker engaged and facilitates learning.
Most of the people who find these studies important are focused on what it means for educating children. It’s evidence cited by those who advocate keeping cursive writing in the elementary school curriculum and limiting the use of keyboards in the early grades.
But at the other end of the age spectrum, the studies have important implications for those of us who worry about keeping our minds engaged and sharp.
The studies suggest that the act of handwriting facilitates learning and cognitive development in ways that typing does not. While many factors play a role in a person’s risk of dementia, the scientific consensus holds that mental stimulation (i.e., learning) is among the most protective measures you can take. Activities that challenge the brain stimulate neurotransmitter chemicals that reinforce connections between neurons and tend to offset cognitive decline. The Norway study is particularly encouraging, in that it shows that handwriting activates intricate webs of connections.
[A personal note: I have strong sympathies on both sides of this divide. In my former career as a journalist, I learned to compose my words at a typewriter and later at a computer). That is how I compose these essays. On the other hand, my journalistic career also compelled me to take copious handwritten notes at every meeting, interview, speech, or crime scene, and I still take notes compulsively. In other words, I’m covering my bets.]
There are other ways besides thank-you notes to incorporate handwriting into your routine. Journaling may have the added benefit of giving your emotional states an outlet, and it may even help arrive at resolutions. Drawing and painting also require mental concentration and close coordination between the eyes and the hand.
While there is no solid evidence that handwritten notes are a protection against cognitive decline, the neuroscience to date certainly suggests that it could be true. So my advice is to take note. In fact, take lots of notes. And don’t forget the thank-you notes.
