They Could’ve Just Asked Some Artists: Researchers and Businesses Discover That Doodling Makes Us Smarter

by Paula Newton August 6, 2014
Austin author Sunni Brown provides an example of a doodle. Sunni Brown

Austin author Sunni Brown provides an example of a doodle. Sunni Brown

A recent Wall Street Journal article reports that neuroscientists and other researchers have now discovered that doodling can “help people focus, ease impatience, vent emotions and even generate bursts of insight or new ideas.” Much of the article is based on Austin author Sunni Brown’s new book The Doodle Revolution. Brown, who is also listed as “Infodoodler™-in-Chief” of the consultancy firm SB, Ink, states that doodling “is a thinking tool” and that it “can affect how we process information and solve problems.”

Whether making abstract, representational, or font-based doodles, the process can keep the brain engaged enough to increase concentration. In one study, participants were encouraged to doodle while listening to a list of people’s names and, in a later surprise quiz, doodlers were able to remember 29% more of the information than non-doodlers. Another study found that doodling can increase creativity and communication and that “the participants’ doodles expressed complex emotions they wouldn’t have shared via written posts or texts.”

Amazing.

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