Drawing is better than writing for memory retention

Drawing is better than writing for memory retention
December 6, 2018 , University of Waterloo

Older adults who take up drawing could enhance their memory, according to a new study.

Researchers from the University of Waterloo found that even if people weren't good at it, drawing, as a method to help retain new information, was better than re-writing notes, visualization exercises or passively looking at images.

"We found that drawing enhanced memory in older adults more than other known study techniques," said Melissa Meade, Ph.D. candidate in cognitive neuroscience at Waterloo. "We're really encouraged by these results and are looking into ways that it can be used to help people with dementia, who experience rapid declines in memory and language function."

As part of a series of studies, the researchers asked both young people and older adults to do a variety of memory-encoding techniques and then tested their recall. Meade conducted this study with Myra Fernandes a Psychology professor in cognitive neuroscience at Waterloo and recent UW Ph.D. graduate Jeffrey Wammes.

The researchers believe that drawing led to better memory when compared with other study techniques because it incorporated multiple ways of representing the information—visual, spatial, verbal, semantic and motoric.

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https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-12-memory-retention.html