Handwriting Speed May Be Indicator of Cognitive Impairment

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By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, Senior Medical Editor, B. Pharm. Last updated on May 27, 2026.

via HealthDay

WEDNESDAY, May 27, 2026 -- Older adults with cognitive impairment show distinct patterns in the timing and organization of their handwriting movements, according to a study published online May 19 in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience.

João Galrinho, from Universidade de Évora in Portugal, and colleagues evaluated whether kinematic handwriting features differentiated institutionalized older adults with and without cognitive impairment. The analysis included 20 cognitively healthy and 38 cognitively impaired older adults.

The researchers found that pen-control tasks (DOTS, LINES) did not significantly discriminate between the two groups. However, the handwriting-speed tasks, particularly dictation, revealed significant group differences, with temporal efficiency and stroke organization variables (e.g., duration, number of strokes) significantly contributing to classification in high-demand tasks. Associations between kinematic and product measures were limited in cognitively healthy participants, suggesting preserved compensatory mechanisms. Cognitively impaired individuals showed stronger process–product coupling, with start time, vertical size, and duration significantly predicting handwriting performance in dictation tasks.

"Writing is not just a motor activity, it's a window into the brain," senior author Ana Rita Matias, Ph.D., also from the University of Évora, said in a statement. "Tasks involving higher cognitive demands showed that cognitive decline is reflected in how efficiently and coherently handwriting movements are organized over time."

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Source: HealthDay

Posted : 2026-05-28 03:09

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