(Illustration: Preparing to unbox the Remarkable Paper Pro. Image source: Ernest.)
✳️ tl;dr
- In Ernest PKM 1, I mentioned that I still maintain paper-based notes, along with using digital handwritten notes.
- Last year, I acquired a reMarkable Paper Pro, which is also handwriting-based.
- There’s always this feeling that when surrounded by heaps of mixed information, whenever I want to quiet down and clarify the complex cognition at hand,
- I usually grab a handwriting tool, put on noise-canceling headphones, sit quietly for a few minutes, and then start writing to output, categorize, and compare,
- I can always sort things out. Even if no clear structure emerges, at least some branches grow.
- But feelings are just feelings. I always want to find a causal explanation (ah, is this a bad habit? Anyway, it’s a habitual action - the root cause habits formed at TSMC are too deeply ingrained).
- Searching and searching, I found that Dr. Audrey van der Meer 2 has long been focused on this field,
- Below are her research results published in 2024-01. 34
- The study recorded brain electrical activity in 36 university students as they were handwriting with a digital pen and typing on a keyboard.
- Brain connectivity patterns during handwriting were far more complex and elaborate than during typing.
- Handwriting produced widespread theta/alpha frequency connectivity patterns, which are crucial for memory formation and learning.
- Neural processes are not localized and static; the brain organizes in a highly dynamic functional manner.
- High-density EEG studies of cortical oscillations are considered an indispensable part of contemporary systems neuroscience.
- Complex interactions at specific frequencies are thought to reflect different cognitive processes.
- The temporal organization of neuronal firing is crucial for forming long-term memories in the hippocampus.
- Event-related synchronization (ERS) and event-related desynchronization (ERD) can be observed in EEG recordings.
- Handwriting involves more complex hand movements and may be more advantageous for learning than typing.
- 40 university students in their early twenties participated in the study, with data from 36 students being of sufficient quality for analysis.
- To avoid crossover effects between the two brain hemispheres, only right-handed participants were included in the study.
- E-prime 2.0 software was used to individually display 15 different Pictionary words on a Microsoft Surface Studio.
- Participants used a digital pen to write in cursive on a touchscreen or used a keyboard to type the presented words.
- The experiment comprised 30 trials, with each word appearing in two different conditions in random order.
- Each trial gave participants 25 seconds to repeatedly handwrite or type words, but EEG was only recorded for the first 5 seconds.
- To prevent artifacts caused by eye movements, typed words were not displayed on the screen during typing.
- A Geodesic Sensor Net with 256 evenly distributed electrodes was used to record EEG activity at 500 Hz sampling rate.
- BESA software was used to analyze EEG data, employing spherical spline interpolation to handle movement artifacts.
- The mean number of accepted trials was 14.1 (SD = 1.1) for handwriting and 13.3 (SD = 1.3) for typing.
- Coherence measures were applied, producing symmetric connectivity matrices showing pairwise clusters.
- Significant differences in connectivity existed between handwriting and typing, mainly in the theta (3.5-7.5 Hz) and alpha (8-12.5 Hz) frequency bands.
- Widespread theta/alpha connectivity coherence patterns appeared in parietal and central brain regions during handwriting.
- The connectivity matrix showed extensive connections between parietal right, parietal midline, parietal left, and central right and central left regions.
- Parietal and central brain regions are associated with attentional mechanisms, cognitive processes in visual perception, and language processing, with strong links to sensorimotor cortex.
- 32 significant cluster differences were found in the handwriting condition, representing 16 significant connections.
- Network measures showed that hubs during handwriting had higher degrees of network involvement (≥4 connections).
- Handwriting showed more widespread theta/alpha connectivity patterns compared to typing, indicating stronger connectivity.
- Enhanced brain connectivity during handwriting appeared only when writing by hand and not when pressing keys, proving that handwriting promotes learning.
- Theta/alpha connectivity patterns may indicate that handwriting and typing involve different neural networks.
- Alpha band connectivity is related to long-term memory performance, while theta connectivity is related to working memory and the ability to comprehend new information.
- Lower frequencies are particularly suited for facilitating long-distance communication in the brain, and theta oscillations may gate the occurrence of gamma oscillations.
- Theta synchrony supports information integration during memory formation, and low-frequency synchronization is crucial for cognition.
- Handwriting requires fine motor control over the fingers, forcing students to pay attention to what they are doing. 👉 Cognition
- Typing requires mechanical repetitive movements, trading awareness for speed. 👉 Efficiency
- The spatiotemporal patterns of visual, motor commands, and proprioceptive feedback produced by handwriting movements are absent in typing.
- Replacing handwriting with typing in educational environments may have negative impacts on the learning process.
✳️ Knowledge Graph
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