Sunday, October 31, 2010

Handwriting Beneficial for the Brain

Research showing that handwriting engages different parts of the brain, and strengthens the brain, is no shock to those of us who know what we write by hand is very different from what we write on keyboards. But, apparently, it's news to other people. So much so that The Wall Street Journal is reporting on a recent study.

They quote:
"It seems there is something really important about manually manipulating and drawing out two-dimensional things we see all the time," says Karin Harman James, assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience at Indiana University who led the study.

Read the whole story at:
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052748704631504575531932754922518-lMyQjAxMTAwMDAwNjEwNDYyWj.html

We've known for years that different parts of the brain are engaged when we write by hand. In "Patsy World," this is common sense. I guess in the "World World," we need studies to confirm it. I'm glad there is a new one. And that the media is reporting it.

Speech writing

I've been working on a number of things today, including my speech for the 140conf. In the process I've been rereading some blog entries, including this one about Dr. Robert Putnam speaking in Hutchinson.

Whenever I make notes for a speech, I'm amazed at how many different directions it can take. Eventually I hit upon something that seems workable for the particular occasion. This one is 95% there. I'm hoping the remaining 5% comes tomorrow.