The effects of handwriting experience on functional brain development in pre-literate children

You can read the full research article here.

'Learning to write letters is not a simple task...

In summary, when preliterate children perceive letters, only free-form printing experience results in the recruitment of the visual areas used in letter-processing, and the motor regions seen in letter production.

This finding adds to previous research showing that letter perception is facilitated by handwriting experience, and it further suggests that handwriting experience is important for letter processing in the brain.'

Authors:

Karin H. James - Associate Professor of Psychology, Indiana University USA

Laura Engelhardt - Indiana University and Columbia University USA

December 2012