NICHOLAS FABIANO: 2 weeks without smartphone internet significantly improved sustained attention. The effects were similar to being a decade younger.

2 weeks without smartphone internet significantly improved sustained attention.

The effects were similar to being a decade younger. https://t.co/NIXafWwGO4 pic.twitter.com/MNifb0Uydu

— Nicholas Fabiano, MD (@NTFabiano) March 8, 2026

NICHOLAS FABIANO: Handwriting leads to widespread brain connectivity - typing does not.

Handwriting leads to widespread brain connectivity - typing does not. pic.twitter.com/musu44Hyfs

— Nicholas Fabiano, MD (@NTFabiano) June 12, 2025

"Handwriting but not typewriting leads to widespread brain connectivity: a high-density EEG study with implications for the classroom," F R Ruud Van der Weel,Audrey L H Van der Meer, Frontiers in Psychology, January 26, 2024.

When writing by hand, brain connectivity patterns were far more elaborate than when typewriting on a keyboard, as shown by widespread theta/alpha connectivity coherence patterns between network hubs and nodes in parietal and central brain regions. Existing literature indicates that connectivity patterns in these brain areas and at such frequencies are crucial for memory formation and for encoding new information and, therefore, are beneficial for learning. Our findings suggest that the spatiotemporal pattern from visual and proprioceptive information obtained through the precisely controlled hand movements when using a pen, contribute extensively to the brain's connectivity patterns that promote learning. We urge that children, from an early age, must be exposed to handwriting activities in school to establish the neuronal connectivity patterns that provide the brain with optimal conditions for learning. 

Here, rewrite paragraphs from this essay, "Jefferson Davis on Robert E. Lee," onto a sheet of paper in cursive.  Enjoy.