The Pen Goes Up, Then Down and Then Over

[morgandawn]

In college part of my exam prep was to take all my course notes and rewirte them into shorter bullet points by hand. It helped me tremendously because it forced me to re-organize the notes into blocks of data and then commit the blocks to memory by writing. One of the many things I miss most about Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome - the ability to write and type at any pace without error.

But on to the article:  Cursive Writing Camps in Illinois

"Neuroscientists have found that the act of writing by hand builds neural pathways that directly affect a wide range of development, including language fluency, memory, physical coordination, and socialization. Researchers such as Steve Peverly of Columbia University and Virginia W. Berninger of the University of Washington have discovered close connections between writing and cognitive development. Peverly, for example, has shown that students’ attention span improves significantly when they take notes by hand as opposed to clicking away on their keyboards. And those who can write more swiftly retain the information better. Since connecting letters increases the speed at which one writes, we can infer that cursive note taking would be most beneficial for academic success."

Comments

[shehasathree]

I'm sure that part of why i'm no longer so good at studying/remembering things these days is being unable to handwrite the way i used to (before EDS-related tendon issues).

[annezo]

This doesn't surprise me at all.

I've known for a long time that if I want to remember something, I need to write it down with a pen and paper.