A study led by Professor Ryuta Kawashima suggests that driving a manual transmission car is beneficial for the brain, and could help prevent dementia. Kawashima is a neuroscientist known for the Brain Age and Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training games, released primarily on Nintendo platforms between 2003 and 2020.
The research, conducted by Kawashima’s team at Tohoku University’s Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, looked at brain activity when driving manual and automatic cars.
The study found that the actions required to drive a manual vehicle activates the prefrontal cortex in ways that driving an automatic doesn’t. The prefrontal cortex is the part of the brain which handles memory, decision-making and attention.
Ryuta Kawashima in 2007, with the Brain Training games for Nintendo DS. Photo by MIWA SUZUKI/AFP via Getty Images.
When driving a stick shift, you need to decide which gear to switch to based on your assessment of the situation and surroundings. Then there’s the process of changing gears, in which you simultaneously operate the clutch pedal and gearstick, all while controlling your acceleration. As any learner driver who stalled a manual car will know, this requires brain and body coordination. Kawashima et al. found that these decisions and actions involved in driving a manual light up the prefrontal cortex.
“You have to judge and then pick the optimal gear according to the situation, and this puts a better load on the brain’s cognitive functions than driving a passive automatic transmission car,” says Kawashima in a quote from Japanese news site Best Car Web.
In other words, getting behind the wheel of a manual transmission vehicle regularly gives your brain a little workout. Kawashima says this has “a significant effect on maintaining mental health and cognitive function.”
With the aging population of Japan and other countries, cognitive decline is a significant health issue. It seems that driving manual vehicles is one way in which people can keep their brain active and help stave off dementia.
Despite these apparent benefits, manual transmission cars are on the decline in favor of effortless automatics. This is especially the case in the U.S. and Japan, where manual transmission accounts for only 1%~2% of new cars.
If you are not driving a manual car, then playing certain video games can also help keep your brain in gear. Various research has shown that gaming can benefit your brain. This includes a study showing that action game players have better cognitive function and higher levels of gray matter, and a 2020 study by Oxford University which found that titles like Animal Crossing may boost your mental health.
Image credit: Getty.
Verity Townsend is a Japan-based freelance writer who previously served as editor, contributor and translator for the game news site Automaton West. She has also written about Japanese culture and movies for various publications.
