Scientists studying how the brain processes information have repeatedly found that writing by hand activates far more brain regions than typing on a keyboard, a difference researchers say has consequences for how students learn and remember.
Among the clearest evidence is a study published on January 26, 2024, in the journal Frontiers in Psychology.
Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) recorded brain activity in 36 university students as they handwrote words with a digital pen and typed the same words on a keyboard. The team used a high-density EEG system fitted with 256 sensors to track electrical activity across the scalp.
The results showed that handwriting produced widespread connectivity between brain regions linked to vision, movement and sensory processing. Typing, by contrast, produced little activity in the same areas.
The connectivity observed during handwriting appeared strongest in the parietal and central regions, within frequency bands that scientists associate with memory formation and the encoding of new information.
A 2026 study by Gorka Ibaibarriaga, Joana Acha, and Manuel Perea, published in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, also tested children learning a new alphabet. It found that handwriting helped children learn accurate letter and word representations more effectively than typing, and that this advantage extended beyond individual letters to word identification, writing, and decoding.
According to a review study led by Giuseppe Marano at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Rome, handwriting consistently engages a wider network, including the sensorimotor cortex, the visual word form area, and language centers such as Broca’s area, whereas typing produces what they describe as more passive engagement.
Lead researcher Audrey van der Meer, a professor of neuropsychology at NTNU, said the pattern of activity suggests handwriting supports learning more effectively than typing. She has argued that when people write by hand, they “learn better and remember better.”
The findings build on earlier work by the same team, including a 2020 study involving 12-year-old children, which found similar patterns of brain activity during handwriting tasks. That study suggested the advantage begins early in development, not only in adulthood.
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Not all scientists agree on how far the conclusions should be taken. A commentary published in the same journal in January 2025 by researchers Svetlana Pinet and Marieke Longcamp questioned whether differences in brain connectivity alone prove that handwriting produces better learning outcomes.
Van der Meer’s team has called for schools to continue teaching handwriting alongside digital skills, saying children should be exposed to both from an early age.
