Neuroscientist Dr. Ryuta Kawashima, best known for Nintendo's Brain Age and Dr. Kawashima’s Brain Training series, has suggested that driving a manual transmission vehicle offers significant cognitive benefits compared to operating an automatic. His research indicates that the act of driving a stick shift can help maintain mental health and cognitive function, potentially playing a role in dementia prevention.
Research conducted by Kawashima's team at Tohoku University's Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer involved analyzing brain activity during manual and automatic driving. The study found that the manual transmission's requirement to actively select gears based on environmental assessment, coupled with the coordinated operation of the clutch, gearstick, and accelerator, stimulates the prefrontal cortex. This brain region is crucial for memory, decision-making, and attention.
"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," Kawashima stated in comments reported by Best Car Web. This continuous engagement offers a mental workout, contributing to overall brain health. As global populations age, cognitive decline becomes an increasingly significant concern, and manual driving presents one accessible method to keep the brain active.
Despite these potential advantages, manual transmission vehicles are becoming less common, particularly in markets like the U.S. and Japan, where they represent a small fraction of new car sales. This trend favors the convenience of automatic transmissions.
For those not driving manual vehicles, video games can also offer cognitive stimulation. Previous research has indicated that playing action games can enhance cognitive function and increase gray matter volume. A 2020 Oxford University study also suggested that titles like Animal Crossing may positively impact mental well-being.