Can Squeezing Your Right Hand Lead to Increased Memory?

Back in the 1960s there was a tremendous amount of enthusiasm in research to discover the difference between functions of the left and right brain. A plethora of new research is bringing the “Left Brain vs. Right Brain” debate back to life. The left part of the brain (cerebral hemisphere) controls logic, word formation, academic, and analytical processes; the right part of the brain (cerebral hemisphere) deals more with emotions, and the artistic or imaginative activities. However the hemispheres are always working together!

After becoming a regular debate in popular psychology and self-help books, the oversimplified split-brain model that put creativity only in the right brain and logic only in the left brain was challenged by many neuroscientists and fell out of favor in research.

With the use of functional MRIs this trend seems to be shifting back to the popular side again. A study released on April 24, 2013 by Ruth Propper and colleagues from Montclair State University found that hand clenching increases neuronal activity in the frontal lobe of the opposite hemisphere.

Creativity requires divergent thinking to connect seemingly unrelated memories and ideas in new and useful ways. It is fascinating to think that the simple act of squeezing a ball with your right hand while learning could improve long tern memory and intelligence in the left hemisphere; and later you could stimulate creativity by squeezing the ball with your left hand to engage the right hemisphere. 

The right hemisphere controls and receives sensory information from the left side of the body and the left hemisphere controls and receives sensory input from the right side. The researchers found that clenching your right hand may help form a stronger memory of an experience or action by activating the left hemisphere, and that clenching your left hand may help you recollect the memory later by activating your right hemisphere.

According to Ruth Propper, "The findings suggest that specific simple one sided muscular movements (by temporarily changing the way the brain fires) can improve forming or accessing a memory.

Future research will examine whether hand clenching can also improve other forms of cognition, for example verbal or muscular coordination." The authors clarify that further work is needed to test whether their results with word lists also extend to memories of visual stimuli like remembering a face, or spatial tasks, such as remembering where keys were placed.

Better Brain Tip of the Week

Use your opposite hand for 7 days straight to perform daily functions

(for example: brushing teeth, combing hair, buttoning shirts ,opening doors, eating, etc)

References:

Ruth Propper and colleagues from Montclair State University

Clenching your right or left hand activates different brain hemispheres.

Published on April 26, 2013 by Christopher Bergland in The Athlete's Way