How reading transforms your brain
Reading might be the most efficient way to learn a great deal of things. In fact, there is value to reading anything because of what reading does for your brain.
What exactly are the beneficial effects of reading?
Keeping your memory sharp, enhancing your learning capacity and setting the stage for new activities and passions - reading is the ultimate brain exercise...
Calling into play several different areas of our brains, reading is more neurobiologically demanding than processing images or speech. Watching a movie or listening to audiobooks will work out and expand your brain, too - but not at the same level that reading can.
Just now as you’re reading this article, parts of your brain that have evolved for diverse functions, such as vision and language, are connecting in a specific neural pathway for reading- visible on MRI scans of the brain during reading.
Still paying attention?
Great! Because the act of reading demands the use of not only your intelligence but also your concentration and frequently brings into play your imagination, particularly if you’re reading a work of fiction.
In an clinical study Dr. Oatley and Dr. Mar of the University of Toronto describe how good fiction, with its rich metaphors and detailed descriptions, “produces a vivid simulation of reality.” It’s a replica as close to real life as it gets. Oatley also believes, readers seem to be “better able to understand other people.”
Reading is where we practice and develop empathy
In a similar study published in the Annual Review of Psychology, Dr. Mar studied MRI scans to prove there is an overlap between the brain networks used to understand stories and those used to actually interact with human beings.
We learn how to deal with certain situations based on what we read. Reading about the struggles and triumphs of fictional characters has the power to make us understand our own struggles and the struggles of those around us better.
Through reading, we develop a strong “theory of mind,” which enables us to understand and comprehend the emotional cues of others as if we were experiencing the emotions ourselves.
There is evidence that just as the brain responds to depictions of smells and textures and movements as if they were the real thing, it also treats the interactions among fictional characters as something like real-life social encounters.
George Lakoff and Mark Johnson's “Metaphors We Live By” examined the power of metaphors, stating:
The metaphor is a fundamental mechanism of mind, one that allows us to use what we know about our physical and social experience to provide understanding of countless other subjects.
When we read a good metaphor, areas of our brain associated with smell and touch literally light up, the same way they would if we were to feel a warm sensation with our hand. We have a sensory experience that allows us to smell things and taste things that aren’t really there.
That's great but you don't have enough time/ energy to really dig in?
Think about it: The opportunities to read, and the mediums to do it with, have never been greater! Booksellers abound, from massive chains to the funky neighborhood bookstore - coffee shop hybrid.
Newspapers and magazines have shrunk in size, but there seems to be more available than ever before. And of course, there’s the internet, accessible almost everywhere. If you’re not surfing the web with your laptop or mobile device, you might be digging into a good article, or even book, on your e-reader or tablet.
Even if it's not the classic paperback of Wallace's "The Pale King" on the couch-
the universe of reading has never been more accessible - dive in.