Drawing on paper versus drawing on a tablet: an EEG study

Abstract

Drawing is an activity that requires visual, emotional, and movement skills. This study compares, for the first time, children's brain activity during drawing on paper versus drawing on a tablet. First, we examined drawing activity in 26 right-handed children using the EEG combined with Event-Related Desynchronization (ERD) and Event-Related Synchronization (ERS) methods. Then, we asked participants to copy a house model where we used a Neurosoft EEG system to record the data and analyse it using the Brainstorm application. Both experimental conditions activate the brain's anterior and posterior cortices, but the activity in the anterior cortices was slightly higher during the drawing on paper than on the tablet. Conversely, compared to the paper condition, brain activity in the posterior cortices was slightly higher while drawing on the tablet.