The Power of Taking Pen to Paper

Electronic messages clearly are taking over business and personal communications.  Many of us get hundreds of emails and texts every day.  Yet when is the last time you recall receiving a handwritten pen and paper were more likely to reframeideas in their own words, engaging the brain in a more optimal way. In contrast, those using a keyboard tended simply to record, the notes on a laptop.

                Before we abandon paper and pen forever, however, we should know research increasingly shows that handwriting offers many cognitive and social benefits.

                When we write by hand instead of using digital tools, it can improve our ability to process information.  Two researchers, Pam Mueller of Princeton university and Daniel Oppenheimer, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, asked more than 300 students to use their preferred method of note taking during lectures. When tested on the material the students who handwrote their notes retained significantly more ideas than those who typed notes on a laptop.

                Why? The findings suggest that those using pen and paper were more likely to reframeideas in their own words, engaging the brain in an optimal way. In contrast those using a keyboard tended simply to record information, sometimes creating a virtual transcript.

                It appears the art of precision in handwriting also produces positive brain effects.  In one Indiana University study, psychologist Karin James conducted brain scans on preliterate children before and after they received lessons about letters.  The result: Neural activity for children who printed letters by hand was far more enhanced than it was for those who typed or traced them.        

                Another study demonstrated a connection between longhand and more fluent and sophisticatedwriting. Research led by by Virginia Berninger, a professor at the University of Washington, found that elementary school students who created essays by hand---versus using a keyboard---wrote more and wrote faster.  They expressed more ideas as well.

The impact of handwriting on brain activity is so pronounced, some medical researchers believe it could be a good exercise for keeping minds sharp as people age.

What do you think; do you agree? 

This information is taken from an ad for Pilot Pen.

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New Words/Phrases:

1. Preferred method---usual way or method;

2. Cognitive---related to the process of knowing or understanding rationally;

3.  Note taking---recording information;   

4. Reframe---reorganize;

5. Optimal Way---best way;  

6. Neural activity---brain wave activity or electrical impulses of the brain;

7. Versus---compared to;

8. Pronounced---clear

9. Sophisticated --- developed to a high degree of complexity

10. Preliterate --- of, relating to, or denoting a society or culture that has not developed the use of writing