Handwriting Counts- Our Brain Knows It!!!

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Parker Duofold Senior in black hard rubber, ca...
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I learned how to “script” at a very early age.  My great-grandfather was a calligrapher; and I was lucky enough to have wonderful training.  Of course, when I went to elementary school, my teachers were not all that thrilled, since there was this rule about “printing first”, but, rest assured, this was not the only problem I had with teachers and their rules of learning. To this day, I love writing with a fountain pen- which is one of the best ways (at least to me) to express yourself.  But, it turns out, that handwriting skills are critical for our development. (There is some discussion that handwriting is a useful cognitive skill to keep one mind’s sharp and other physicians believe that handwriting can provide a diagnostic for neurological disorders.)

Karin Harman James at Indiana University has been studying what effects teaching toddlers handwriting have on the brain.  Results were presented in Developmental Science (March 2010) that demonstrated enhanced neural activity.  James presented letters to the children before and after providing handwriting training, while monitoring their brain activity with fMRI. These images, which depict enhanced brain activity, indicate that learning occurred.

Dr. James (and Atwood) published results that demonstrated similar effects when adults are trained in graphically different languages (Chinese, mathematic symbols, music).  In that study, the adults were asked to examine characters and their mirror images via handwriting and computers.  When handwriting was involved, recognition was quicker than via computer input.

Virginia Berninger of  the University of Washington found that handwriting is different from typing, when it comes to the brain.  Handwriting requires sequential events to form a letter; typing involves key selection only. Imaging indicates that more of the brain is involved when the sequential finger movements are required.

The fMRI imaging prove that handwriting (or calligraphy) is more than communication; it improves idea development and expression, as well as augments fine motor-skill development.

So, stay sharp. Bring out those fountain pens and practice!

Roy A. Ackerman, Ph.D., E.A.

You can see an example of my great-grandfather’s copyrighted material (he etched the faces of Washington, Lincoln, and Jefferson into the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, among other items) here.

If this has inspired you, check out some of these sites: http://www.bfhhandwriting.com/manual.php, http://www.handwritingsuccess.com/resources.php,

 

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20 thoughts on “Handwriting Counts- Our Brain Knows It!!!”

  1. It’s so hard to get backlinks these days, honestly i need a backlink by comments on your blog / forums or guestbook to make my website appear in search engine. I am getting desperate Now! I know you’ll laugh while reading this comment !!!

  2. Calligraphy was compulsory when I was young. And though I kept thinking I wasn’t brilliant, on the long term my handwriting has been very appreciated! (I am not bragging, if we could write our comments you all would know ;)) But yes, in college I was given extra grades for being neat. Though it has been a long time since I wrote with a fountain pen, I find it makes my fingers a little smoother in function.
    Every time I read your posts, I think of a new research topic…maybe for a Ph.D (if I ever get to do one!)
    Hajra recently posted..Weird Weight Loss Techniques!

    1. Hajra:
      You do know that PhD also stands for Piling Higher and Deeper!
      But, yes, I do love using a fountain pen. Little did I realize how important it could be. (Maybe that explains why certain professions should reconsider their handwriting characteristics!)
      Thanks for your comments.
      Roy

  3. I love it when I run across another fountain pen aficionado. My fountains have become my favorite pens. My handwriting (especially my cursive) became so much better once I started using one. I really think this is a sad state of affairs when something as beautiful as cursive gets de-emphasized to the point that it seems to be going.

    By the way, is that pen in the photo one of yours? If so what is it, I can’t tell. I have a Waterman Phileas and a Lamy Alloy.

    1. Nice to meet you, too, Brad:
      My great-grandfather was a calligrapher (knew not a word of English, but made all sorts of wonderful invitations and documents- as you saw on this post). And, he taught me a little.
      And, I am worried about the removal of this skill from the curriculum. It is critical for developing fine motor skills (children), it may help us learn, and it is considered a vital means to stave off Alzheimer’s as we age.
      And, yes, while not a photograph of MY pen, it is my Parker Pen. One that replaced the one I lost, presented as a graduation gift oh, so, many decades ago..
      Love your pens, too. But, I’m a lefty… Parker fares better in my hands…

  4. Hi Roy , ive been writing with a proper fountain pen (MB Meisterstuck) since i was 15 (im now 45) , i used to get teased without mercy for using it at school but once i got to the work place and had taken my vitamins for depression (only kidding) the quality of my thinking improved as i wrote carefully and with a considered hand. I hear the fountain pen market is growing again in Europe which could mark an interesting trend back to basics

    Jim (brain smart ) Jackson in Geneva Switzerland

    1. Jim:
      Thank you so much for your comments.
      My fountain pen (and my signature) are as much part of my brand as my name is, by now!
      And, handwriting is a great motor skill – and it keeps our brain fresh. I would hope that “brain smart” would be fully charged using the fountain pen.
      Thanks for dropping in!
      Roy

  5. Great post, Roy – thank you for bringing it to my attention. I received some not-so-positive comments from “lefties” after my post about cursive saying that it was the bane of their existence and think it is a waste of time to teach it. I think these people are short-sighted using their own singular unpleasant experience to determine what they think is best for others. I struggled with reading comprehension as a kid, but do I think we should do away with teaching it? And now, my reading skills have improved tremendously and I’m grateful that it was a focus in school. Your post just goes to show that it’s not just about getting a grade for cursive in school or using a technique that some think is obsolete. It is a real benefit to our children’s brains and can be a real art form for those that have a gift for it, and it is a necessary form of communication that keeps us linked to our past. Thank you! ~ Suerae

    1. As a lefty leftie, I don’t see their point, Suerae. I admit to also having tremendous problems with mechanical drawing (a course I took some 45 years ago), which was clearly designed for the wrongies (right-handed persons)….
      Just because something is difficult does not mean it should not be taught- or learned. Or, do we all become sellers of flowers on street corners and exit ramps?
      Roy

      1. Don’t know about that flowers thing. Seems like it’d probably be a difficult way to make a living. Who actually buys those? 🙂

  6. Some lefties do have problems with smearing ink, which seems to come from the “overwriter” style of holding a pen that some develop. I have a cousin who writes like this. My southpaw sister, however, is a lefty underwriter, which means she holds her pen like a right-handed person does and her hand never runs across the line she’s just written.

    How left-handedness and cursive are connected, I’m not sure because my sister’s always had a great cursive hand.

    I have seen quite a few people pushing italic as preferable to cursive because they had trouble learning cursive and have projected this onto the rest of the world.

    Personally, I’d just like to see more people writing with pens and pencils and less with keypads or computer keyboards. And since one of the major complaints I’ve seen in comments following articles about handwriting is “my hand hurts when I write”, fountain pens (which I love) could very well be an answer. Ballpoints require too much pressure on the paper and too hard a grip on the pen. The callous I still have on my middle right finger after so many years is evidence of that.

    BTW, for anyone curious about them, there are some fountain pen discussion boards on the ‘net where you can learn just about everything you need to know about these pens. Currently, the biggest one is probably the Fountain Pen Network.

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