Write with Pen and Paper instead of a Keyboard for Increased Brain Connectivity

If writing by hand activates the whole brain, then it may join the list of healthy aging activities that help stave off cognitive decline

At Mom’s birthday gathering a few years ago (she’s now a ‘with-it’ 92), an old friend took advantage of Balboa Island’s quaint local charm by sightseeing. Since her retirement, our friend had begun journaling her travels, illustrated with watercolor sketches. She wasn’t an ‘artist,’ but that didn’t diminish her joy in capturing the experience or the authenticity and appeal of her sketches and musing. It was inspiring and I tucked it away as a good idea for later. I have a bad habit of saving good things “for later,” like the “good clothes,” the “good dishes” and the “good scissors.” But when I saw this article about handwriting and cognitive activation, I thought about our friend, the passage of time, and aging and realized that it was time to hunt up all my retro media (pens, pencils, watercolors, bound journals, and sketchpads) and make the time for later to be now.

Handwriting for Brain Health

Boomers and GenX take note: NBC.com reported a recent study that found writing by hand (rather than tapping away on your keyboard) increases brain connectivity. It may be time to consider deleting all or some of those list-making and journal apps from your phone and return to paper and notebooks. If writing by hand activates the whole brain, then it may join the list of activities, like doing crossword puzzles and learning a new language, that help stave off cognitive decline. Adding a few pictures alongside your musings (aka visual journaling) would combine the cognitive activity of handwriting with the extensive benefits of art therapy, such as improved cognitive performance and movement; enhanced self-identity and meaning in life; reduced loneliness and depression; and opportunities for socializing. Win-win.

There’s lots of empirical evidence that writing has psychological benefits. Writing helps people process life’s emotional ups and downs through sense-making—the greater the cognitive effort to find meaning, the greater appreciation of the benefits and improved mood. Meaning and positive emotions are central to well-being.

However, I had never considered the physical act of handwriting as a brain health/healthy aging activity. The greater brain activity from handwriting compared to typing is thought to explain why handwritten notes are linked to increased learning among students. Learning and memory are both cognitive functions. Learning describes how we gain new skills and knowledge. Memory is how we store and retrieve what we learn. Aging messes with both and can hamper new learning as well as the retrieval of what you just learned. However, social, physical, and cognitively challenging activities have been shown to diminish the negative effects of aging on cognitive function and increase cognitive reserve.

Cognitive Activities Enhance Brain Structure

In a 2013 study, Wilson et al. reported that evidence from neuroimaging indicates that cognitive activity like handwriting can enhance brain structure and function and may enhance cognitive reserves. Many studies tested these hypotheses on students’ academic performance, but I’m more interested in the ability to use media (and yes, pen and paper still count as media) for healthy aging. So, add handwriting to your list.

Computers make it easy to forego handwriting in favor of speed, the convenience of finding what you wrote again, and the ability to edit without rewriting. But as I reflect, I no longer write out checks, sign documents, or make grocery store lists by hand. With the rare exceptions of thank you notes and condolence cards, almost all my correspondence is digital, not manual. I’m also aware of the difference in mindfulness required to compose a note on paper when you can’t hit the delete button every time you write the wrong word.

I’ve never been one to keep a journal, but I now wonder if the exclusive use of computers and the lack of handwriting practice is doing my brain a disservice by decreasing the activity of cortico-subcortical components of the writing network. My reliance on computers has certainly not done any favors for the legibility of my handwriting.

Like many things, shifting behaviors requires conscious intention, attention, and effort, but it may be time to actively integrate handwriting into some each day. It’s ok to start small. As each year passes, I am more interested in what I can gain in quality, not what I lose in quantity and lack of efficiency.