Handwriting vs Typing: What a 2024 Brain Study Found

ficklestudio26 · Facts checked October 15, 2026

Headlines said writing by hand is better for your brain. The study behind them is real and interesting, but it measured something narrower than the headlines suggest.

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What was tested

Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (Van der Weel and Van der Meer) recorded brain activity with high-density EEG while university students did two tasks. In one, they wrote a word in cursive with a digital pen on a touchscreen. In the other, they typed the word with one finger on a keyboard. Forty right-handed students took part, and 36 were included after quality checks. Each student did 15 words in both conditions, and the analysis used the first 5 seconds of each trial. The paper was published in Frontiers in Psychology in January 2024.

What they found

Handwriting produced widespread connectivity, in the theta and alpha frequency ranges, between regions at the top and center of the brain. This pattern was largely absent when students typed. The authors link this kind of connectivity to learning and memory, and they argue that handwriting should stay in school alongside keyboard use.

What it did not show

Learning was not measured. The link to learning and memory comes from earlier research, not from this experiment.
Typing was unusual. People typed with one finger, and the typed words did not appear on screen. Most people type with several fingers and watch the text.
Small, narrow sample. The students were adults, all right-handed.
Others have raised concerns. A commentary published later in the same journal questioned the comparison, pointing out that typing skill varies widely between people.

So the study supports the idea that writing by hand engages the brain differently from typing. It does not show that children learn more from handwriting, or that typing is harmful.

Where that leaves practice at home

There are other good reasons to practice handwriting: it is a skill children are still asked to use at school, and legible writing matters on forms, tests and notes. If your child is learning letters or numbers, tracing sheets are a simple way to practice. You can print them as often as you need.