Doodle

The word doodle first appeared in the early 17th century to mean a fool or simpleton. That led to the more generalized verb "to doodle", which means to do nothing. ==Effects on memory==

According to a study published in the scientific journal Applied Cognitive Psychology, doodling can aid a person's memory by expending just enough energy to keep one from daydreaming, which demands a lot of the brain's processing power, as well as from not paying attention. Thus, it acts as a mediator between the spectrum of thinking too much or thinking too little and helps focus on the current situation. The study was done by Professor Jackie Andrade, of the School of Psychology at the University of Plymouth, who reported that doodlers in her experiment recalled 7.5 pieces of information (out of 16 total) on average, 29% more than the average of 5.8 recalled by the control group made of non-doodlers. and maintaining attention. Doodling has positive effects on human comprehension as well. Creating visual depictions of information allows for a deeper understanding of material being learned. When doodling, a person is engaging neurological pathways in ways that allow for effective and efficient sifting and processing of information. For these reasons, doodling is used as an effective study tool and memory device. == As a therapeutic device ==

Doodling can be used as a stress relieving technique. This is similar to other motor activities such as fidgeting or pacing that are also used to alleviate mental stress. According to a review of over 9,000 submitted doodles, nearly 2/3 of respondents recalled doodling when in a "tense or restless state" as a means to reduce those feelings. Scientists believe that doodling's stress relieving properties arise from the way that the act of doodling engages with the brain's default mode network. Doodling is often incorporated into art therapy, allowing its users to slow down, focus and de-stress. ==History==

Doodling has been found on multiple archaeological artefacts at different times around the world. Examples include hand and foot prints intentionally left by children 200,000 years ago in Tibet, 1st-century drawings of stick figures and gladiators in Pompeii, and obscene drawings in the Sogdian documents from Dunhuang (9th–10th century). A young student named Onfim from 13th-century Novgorod left a variety of doodles in his school notes, written on birch bark. == Notable doodlers ==

Alexander Pushkin's notebooks are celebrated for their superabundance of marginal doodles, which include sketches of friends' profiles, hands, and feet. These notebooks are regarded as a work of art in their own right. Full editions of Pushkin's doodles have been undertaken on several occasions. the poet and physician John Keats, who doodled in the margins of his medical notes; Sylvia Plath; Mathematician Stanislaw Ulam developed the Ulam spiral for visualization of prime numbers while doodling during a boring presentation at a mathematics conference. Many American presidents, including Thomas Jefferson, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton, have been known to doodle during meetings. ==See also==