Cognitive benefits of doodling.

—Andy Hunt

03/04/2009
Published in Andy's Blog

Interesting article over on Wired.com (http://www.wired.com/2009/02/doodlerecall) about the brain benefits of doodling. It’s a little counter-intuitive, but it seems that perhaps idle doodling while engaged in some other task actually helps you to concentrate and focus on the main task. Researchers think that it’s just engaging enough to block other disruptive thoughts.

The article does not go into advantages of doodling as it might relate to bilateral specialization in the brain, which I think might be a more profound effect when looking at problem solving and creativity (not just memorization).

Either way, pick up that pencil and get to doodling.

(Thanks to Gary Gartner for passing this on).