The science behind doodling: a new studying technique?

If you spend long lectures doodling the outskirts of your notes, you are actually extremely likely to recall more information than classmates who sit and stare at the professor. Multiple scientific studies have been done to prove that idle doodling while taking notes or listening to a lecture can improve focus and recall of information.

“Some researchers suspect doodling may help the brain remain active by engaging its "default networks"—regions that maintain a baseline of activity in the cerebral cortex when outside stimuli are absent. People who were encouraged to doodle while listening to a list of people's names being read were able to remember 29 percent more of the information on a surprise quiz later, according to a 2009 study in Applied Cognitive Psychology,” The Wall Street Journal said.

Other research states that doodling keeps your brain in a middle zone between completely going into the land of daydreams and being perfectly awake and hyper-cognitive. If you’re sitting in class and it’s a day you just can’t seem to pay attention, doodling keeps you from zoning completely out so that you are still absorbing the information you are hearing.

“Doodling (a form of fidgeting) may be a last-ditch attempt at staying awake and attentive. Doodling keeps you from falling asleep, or simply staring blankly when your brain has already turned off. The permission to “free-draw” keeps your brain online just a little while longer,” Harvard Medical School published.

Harvard Medical School continued in their article to explain that paying continuous attention places strain on your brain, and doodling can give the brain a moment to breathe.

“A report on the learning styles of medical students (who generally have to absorb large amounts of information) indicated that even they may find doodling helpful, as long as they limit the time they do it. A simple 30-minute doodle helps them remember information, fills in gaps in their thinking, and provides a much-needed reprieve from the loads of information they must wade through,” the article said.

So whether you are scribbling random patterns between the lines of your notes, or doodling a portrait of your professor as he or she speaks, you are not simply slacking off. Your brain is just doing everything it can to continue to pay attention.