Little did we know that an incredible force is propelled to our brains when we create with our hands.

Brain research on creativity is based on a false assumption that almost everyone has. Strangely, this is not a point of contention; once it is made clear, it is easy to see that the assumption is wrong. Psychology says creativity comprises many complicated mental and emotional processes in discretely different areas.

We treat creativity as a single, unified, and discrete thing like Einstein had it. As a simple extension of this mistake, cognitive neuroscientists have looked for a type of creative thinking that differs from all other types and has its own brain basis.

So far, research has shown that using neuroscience tools to examine the strength of brain network links can help predict how creative a person will be. But we do not know if these links can be strengthened to help people generate new ideas.

Many hands-on hobbies, like knitting, gardening, and coloring, have been linked to mental and emotional health benefits. Could this be the reason we’re seeing adult coloring book sales surge? The benefits include better memory and attention, as well as fewer signs of anxiety and depression. The latter would seem to point to processes that would, formerly, be remediated with pharmacologic interventions. And it’s not something complex that you need to do or to learn.

According to a study, handwriting is more connected than typing, which suggests that the two jobs use different mental processes. Higher brain connectivity has been linked to higher brain connectivity noticed only when writing by hand and not when just pressing keys on a keyboard. These results mean that writing by hand helps people learn. Strangely, the greater connections between different brain parts are connected to the specific sensorimotor processes needed for handwriting.

In a culture that downplays students' learning cursive handwriting, we must question how this will ultimately fail them. This interplay of hands and mind is the “secret sauce” of learning and creating because it addresses the most relevant connections and is unexpectedly tied to our emotional lives. Writing with your hands is still the most basic way to communicate and paves the way for further academic achievement.

When we work with our hands, we engage more than the muscles. We concentrate on this because we know muscles are important in producing mood-changing hormones and directly affect our brains. But it's more than the muscles because we must also use our senses of vision, touch, and even smell when working in our garden, on an oil painting project, or anything involving hands and creativity.

It is an intricate interplay of all the forces we have at our disposal, and once they are combined, the effect is almost miraculous, if not still mysterious. Yes, it is mysterious because researchers have yet to discern the entire architecture of the brain and its many interconnections or those that may become involved in the future.

Think how much is still to be discovered when we consider the brain. It may be a small couple of pounds seated within a bony container, but its mysteries are extraordinary, and no one realizes this more than psychiatrists and neurologists. Considering that we have yet to find the biochemical nature, in complete form, of any of the mental disorders, you have only one minor example of where we need to go in the future.

If we can use an increasing area of our brain and promote our abilities in any way, wouldn't it be in our best interest? We think of hand-related activities as merely utilitarian, but they play a much larger role in the overall scheme of our lives. Such activities enter our mood, sense of purpose, and whole being, both mentally and physically, and should be explored.

Unfortunately, too many people may feel that some of these activities are not worth their time, but what is life if not time well spent? Spending time in creative, hands-on activities is truly time worth spending. We don't need to go to experts to help us prolong our lives or improve our mood because that may lie in our own two hands.