An analysis of "Hobbies and why working with your hands is good for your brain!"

Brain
An analysis of "Hobbies and why working with your hands is good for your brain!"

An analysis of "Hobbies and why working with your hands is good for your brain!"

For many years hobbies of all types have been around in modern society. From RC Cars, Miniature Locomotives/Trains, Plastic Model Kits, and more, there has always been a hobby to match a real world equivalent of some type. But why do these hobbies bring such positivity and satisfaction? Could it be the satisfaction of the build? Or maybe its the gratification that comes when your new project is finished?

Well if we look at it, it might actually be a culmination of many things and mainly in part to your brain!

Hobbies and Your Brain!

The human body as a whole is a biological marvel of a machine. The brain in particular acting as the main control centre (or CPU for those who are tech savvy) for the whole body. Thus, in saying that working with your hands on your favourite hobby may actually be doing more for your brain than you realise! Now I am by no means a scientist, but if we take a look at what neuroscientists have stated about the brain, we can see that the benefits of any kind of problem solving and creative based activity can help:

"Effort-driven rewards and other real-world interactive experiences generate much more intense and pervasive reactions in your brain than the neurochemical alterations produced by a single pill. The result? You begin to feel more control over your environment and more connected to the world around you. This reduces stress and anxiety and, most important, builds resilience against the onset of depression."

This only further proves that keeping your brain active with your favourite hobby/activity can only benefit you further, especially in these times we live in where most of us are confined to our homes and not able to socialize with our friends, co-workers, and extended family and aren’t able to get the mental stimulation's that normally come with social gatherings such as those.

Brain exercise through hobbies

The other benefits of hobby interactivity with your brain is; with any activity you do there is an inherent necessity to build what is given to you. As most of the time your hobby may come in a "kit" form. And with this when you are interacting/working with your kit you are actively stimulating your creativity side of your brain (right side) and also your problem-solving side (left side) of your brain.

This can help with neuroplasticity development within your brain, helping to further build larger neural networks and possibly improving brain functionality. This is great for all ages, but is especially noticeable in children as they are in their prime development stages, so getting your children into a hobby at a young age can be particularly beneficial for them (hobbies can also help to alleviate boredom!).

Family puzzle making

So, what does all this mean? Well it means that while yes, hobbies as a whole can be a bit of a commitment, and at times pricey (depending on what level of complexity and project customisability you want to get into). They aren’t "Just a hobby" that most people may palm it off as. It is in fact one of many perfect exercises for brain problem solving and creativity development, this also ties into hand eye co-ordination, additionally assisting with arm and hand training for development of finer motor skills!

Weathering Basics - Shadows & Highlights

A perfect example is BJ's video on Weathering and Shading your model kit parts based off light angle, model curvatures, angles etc. In your mind you have to conceptualize and take into account your light source, mid tones fall off, and shadows to get the most organic feel of your paint job, thus making it a problem for your brain to solve.

I hope you enjoyed this self-made analytical article on hobbies and how they help your brain!

You can watch BJ's video on weathering below!

Watch Video here

Tags: Brain, Hearns hobbies, Hearns hobbies model railways, Hearns hobbies radio control, Hearns hobbies trains, Learning, Stimulation, Working with your hands