As kids, teenagers or adults, many of us would've doodled idly on the corner of our notebook as the professor or sales manager is explaining some really boring term in physics or office presentation.
Doodling was surely a fun way to pass time in the class, and now a study states that doodling is actually helpful to make people learn better.
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As per a research, (in an article by Fast Company) whenever we doodle, we actually pay more attention to the speaker while also attaining information. The act of doodling can improve memory in adults,?while also being helpful in improving overall mental health.
Another study observed the blood flow to the brain's prefrontal cortex, which revealed that activities like doodling colouring made the brain feel happy, relaxed and satisfied.?
According to the lead author of this research Girija Kaimal, who is also an assistant professor at Drexel University's College of Nursing and Health Professions, "All three activated the brain's reward pathway. When you engage in drawing, to the brain, that is like having chocolate. It feels good. And doodling actually activated it the most."
According to Kaimal, doodling delivers similar advantage as handwriting does. When we scribble or doodle physically on paper, we simultaneously involve most of our senses while using various parts of our brain to calculate the information. This helps in creating new aspects to a situation since different parts of our brain get activated simultaneously.
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Doodling here doesn't mean creating good looking drawings. Something as simple as a few shapes, lines or texts have a similar impact. This is no drawing competition that one's drawing should be the best looking, it can be anything. Doodling useful information and putting them on flow charts or infographics is also proven to be beneficial for registering and retaining information well in the brain.
So next time a teacher or a professor or your boss catches hold of you while you're scribbling doodles in the classroom or in a meeting, you can tell them why!