A study from Tohoku University (Japan) has put figures to something that many motor fans have been defending for years out of pure passion. And although there are not exactly a few enthusiasts who claim that driving with a manual transmission is more fun, now they could also have science on their side, since according to the study, they also could be healthier for the brain. And the person who claims it, curiously, is the scientist behind one of Nintendo’s best-selling video game sagas.
20 years ago, I trained our brain. The study is led by Professor Ryuta Kawashima, a neuroscientist at the Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer at Tohoku University. His name will be familiar to anyone who has played any of the Nintendo titles in which he stars, since he was the scientific person behind the Brain Age saga and Dr. Kawashima’s Brain Training, the “mental gymnastics” games that Nintendo published between 2003 and 2020.
What it says about the manual transmission. The neuroscientist’s research analyzes the brain activity of drivers behind the wheel of manual and automatic cars, and finds clear differences in the prefrontal cortex, the region of the brain responsible for memory, decision making and attention.
According to collect Japanese media Best Car Web, Kawashima explains that when driving a manual “you have to judge and then choose the optimal gear according to the situation, and this places a greater burden on the cognitive functions of the brain than driving a passive automatic.” In the end, we must keep in mind that choosing the right gear, pressing the clutch, moving the lever and dosing the accelerator simultaneously forces the brain and body to constantly coordinate, something that anyone who has stalled a car while learning to drive can confirm.
Between the lines. That small repeated effort, according to the professor, has benefits that go beyond the simple pleasure of driving. Kawashima holds that doing so regularly has “a significant effect on maintaining mental health and cognitive function.” So changing gears daily could act as a kind of low-level brain training, the kind that the brain stops receiving when the car does all the work for us.
Any habit capable of keeping the brain active adds up. And in societies with increasingly aging populations, like the japanesehaving this stimulus is important, since cognitive deterioration and dementia are increasingly accentuated public health problems.
And yet. The paradox is that, while science has reasons to defend it, the manual transmission begins to disappear from the market at full speed. In Japan and the United States it barely represents between 1% and 2% of new cars sold, according to the data collected in the study itself. The emergence of hybrid and electric vehicles, as well as the comfort offered by this type of transmission, has meant that the manual transmission is beginning to be seen less and less.
Photography is still different in Europe, although we are also heading towards this future. In Spain, according to Engine1we maintain a rate of manual cars of around 41% of sales, only surpassed by Italy, with 48%. So you could say that in Spain we continue to maintain a good level of stimulation for our brain while driving.
Cover image | Nils Keesmekers
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