Research identifies new brain activity for unconscious skills and split second decision making.
Many daily skills & activities are processed by the unconscious part of your brain – things that just happen on ‘autopilot’. Riding a bike, running, swimming and driving are common activities that become automatic. These unconscious skills use a different and very powerful part of the brain: the cerebellum (Latin for “little brain”). You may have heard the term “muscle memory”, but it isn’t only about your muscles, it’s about what’s going on in the brain.
Using a computer keyboard also becomes unconscious if you type by touch, rather than type by sight. For everyone, typing by touch is a giant step-change in how efficiently you can produce work on a computer. For individuals with Special Needs like Dyslexia, Dyspraxia or Autism, the change in using a different part of the brain can be completely liberating.
Using your “little brain” means you type more accurately, type much faster, improve spelling, reduce visual stress (no switching eyes up and down between screen & keyboard) and keep your “big brain” concentrating on content & quality of writing not dividing attention between process and output.
So here’s the latest “science bit” about how the brain works… New research from the University of Colorado highlights the role of the cerebellum in physical skill and that it also makes unconscious split-second decisions. For example, for professional sportsmen and women there is often no time for conscious thought, just time to react. Newly identified connections in the cerebellum facilitate unconscious physical skills and also split-second, go/no-go decisions; these connections are called “MLIs”, (Molecular Layer of Interneurons).
It’s time to get professional on a computer and stop wasting time hunting & pecking, teach your child to type and save them a lifetime of wasting time at the keyboard. Train the “little brain” to type by touch!
