Score another one for the handwritten word

Last week, the online Wall Street Journal business section featured an article entitled, "How Handwriting Trains the Brain." In it, author Gwendolyn Bounds outlines the many reasons that writing by hand is good for kids (it can improve idea composition and expression and may aid fine motor-skill development, among other things) and why it's good for adults--it can keep the cognitive abilities of aging baby boomers on point. It seems that neural activity in the brain is different when we consciously form symbols as opposed to simply choosing a whole letter on a keyboard. So the next time you take out your favorite pen and paper and start to write, remember that you are doing your brain a favor.