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This paper presents an overview of psychological research on the Chinese art of calligraphy (Shufa). Using a theoretical framework, we have investigated the scientific nature of calligraphic brush handwriting as well as its treatment effects on behavioural and clinical disorders. The paper begins with an introduction to Chinese calligraphy, Chinese characters, and the character structures. This is followed by an account of a research‐based framework of the psychological characteristics of Chinese calligraphy handwriting (CCH). Our basic research includes measures of the writer's physiological changes associated with the brush‐writing act, and the results show that the practitioner experiences relaxation and emotional calmness evident in decelerated respiration, slower heart‐rate, decreased blood pressure, and reduced muscular tension. The cognitive effects of the CCH practice included quickened response time and improved performance in discrimination and figure identification, as well as enhanced visual spatial abilities, spatial relations, abstract reasoning, and aspects of memory and attention in the practitioners. Following these findings, our applied and clinical research has resulted in positive effects of the CCH treatment on behavioural changes in individuals with autism, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD); on cognitive improvements in reasoning, judgement, and cognitive facilitation; and on hand steadiness in children with mild retardation; as well as enhanced memory, concentration, spatial orientation, and motor coordination in Alzheimer's patients. Similarly, we have successfully applied the CCH treatment to patients with psychosomatic diseases of hypertension and diabetes, as well as mental diseases of schizophrenia, depression, and neurosis in terms of the patients' emotions, concentration, and hospital behaviours. This new system of CCH behavioural treatment has also been applied to users of other writing systems. In summary, the present CCH research has its roots in a Chinese art, has been scientifically investigated, and offers an alternative approach to improved health.

BackgroundChinese calligraphic handwriting (CCH) has demonstrated a new role in health and therapy. Meanwhile, meditation is an traditional and effective method for coping with stress and staying healthy. This study compared the effectiveness of CCH and meditation as distinctive and parallel stress reduction interventions.MethodsThirty graduate students and academic staff members in Taiwan who suffered from stress were selected by the General Health Questionnaire and randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups, ie, a CCH group, a meditation group, or a control group, for 8 consecutive weeks. Changes in physiological parameters were measured before, during, and after treatment.ResultsCCH and meditation showed their strength in the respective indices of stress. There was a significant difference in respiratory rate, heart rate, and electromyographic scores between the groups. Comparing pre- and post-effects, a decrease in heart rate and an increase in skin temperature was seen in subjects who practiced CCH. Increased skin temperature and decreased respiratory rate were also seen in subjects who practiced meditation, along with reduced muscle tension and heart rate.ConclusionCCH and meditation have good effects in stress reduction. CCH is a particularly promising new approach to reducing stress.

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Chinese calligraphy has been scientifically investigated within the contexts and principles of psychology, cognitive science, and the cognitive neuroscience. On the basis of vast amount of research in the last 30 years, we have developed a cybernetic theory of handwriting and calligraphy to account for the intricate interactions of several psychological dimensions involved in the dynamic act of graphic production. Central to this system of writing are the role of sensory, bio-, cognitive, and neurofeedback mechanisms for the initiation, guidance, and regulation of the writing motions vis-a-vis visual-geometric variations of Chinese characters. This experiment provided the first evidence of cortical excitation in EEG theta wave as a neural hub that integrates information coming from changes in the practitioner's body, emotions, and cognition. In addition, it has also confirmed neurofeedback as an essential component of the cybernetic theory of handwriting and calligraphy.

The V0 interneuronal population is derived from Dbx1 expressing progenitors. Initial studies on these interneurons in the mouse spinal cord demonstrated that they project commissural axons and are involved in coordinating left-right alternation during locomotion. Subsequent work has indicated that the V0 population can be divided into genetically distinct ventral (V0V) and dorsal (V0D) subpopulations, and experimental evidence suggests that each is responsible for left-right alternation at different locomotor speeds. In this study, we perform a series of experiments to probe the location and connectivity of these subpopulations in neonatal mice and demonstrate that they are more diverse than previously predicted. While the distribution of either subpopulation remains consistent along the extent of the lumbar spinal cord, a cluster of V0D cells lateral to the central canal receive substantial input from primary afferents. Retrograde tracing and activity dependent labeling experiments demonstrate that a group of V0 interneurons located in this same region preferentially project axons towards contralateral motoneurons via an oligosynaptic pathway, and are active during fictive locomotion. Our results suggest that this subset of V0 interneurons may be primarily responsible for coordination of left-right alternation during locomotion. Furthermore these experiments indicate that while genetic identity is one determinant of the function of a neuron during locomotion, the specific position in which the cell is located may also play a key role.