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The act of handwriting is gaining renewed attention in this digital age for its profound impact on brain function and learning.

Recent studies, including one published in Frontiers in Psychology and another by researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), shed light on the cognitive advantages of putting pen to paper.

The study published in Frontiers in Psychology monitored brain activity in students taking notes and revealed that those who wrote by hand exhibited higher levels of electrical activity across interconnected brain regions responsible for movement, vision, sensory processing and memory.

This finding underscores the importance of handwriting in engaging multiple brain functions simultaneously, facilitating better retention and comprehension of information.

Audrey van der Meer, a professor of neuropsychology at NTNU, explains that handwriting requires active engagement with the material, fostering deeper processing and understanding compared to typing, where information is often transcribed without much thought.

The study conducted by NTNU researchers involved monitoring brain activity while participants wrote or typed words from the game Pictionary, revealing that handwriting stimulated widespread connectivity across various brain regions involved in sensory processing and motor functions.

"When you are typing, the same simple movement of your fingers is involved in producing every letter, whereas when you're writing by hand, you immediately feel that the bodily feeling of producing A is entirely different from producing a B," van der Meer said, Scientific American reported.

She added that children who have learned to read and write on a digital tablet "often have difficulty distinguishing letters that look a lot like each other or that are mirror images of each other, like the b and the d."

Sophia Vinci-Booher, an assistant professor of educational neuroscience at Vanderbilt University, pointed out that handwriting strengthens memory and learning pathways by linking motor actions with visual and conceptual recognition.

"You can see that in tasks that really lock the motor and sensory systems together, such as in handwriting, there's this really clear tie between this motor action being accomplished and the visual and conceptual recognition being created," she reportedly explained.

"As you're drawing a letter or writing a word, you're taking this perceptual understanding of something and using your motor system to create it."

Studies have consistently shown that engaging the motor system through handwriting enhances learning outcomes, particularly in children, by facilitating letter recognition and cognitive development.

While technology offers convenience and efficiency, experts caution against overreliance on digital devices, which may lead to cognitive offloading and reduced brain engagement.

Van der Meer warns of the potential consequences of neglecting handwriting activities in early education, citing the importance of stimulating children's fine motor skills and brain development through drawing and handwriting exercises.