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Warning! Reading (this column) may change your brain

Francisco Miraval

Why do we read? What are the benefits of reading? And what happens to our brain when we read and afterwards?

In the first few pages of their book El Galano Arte de Leer (The Elegant Art of Reading), published in Mexico in 1959, Manuel Michaus and Jesus Dominguez present 21 reasons for reading aloud and 20 other reasons for reading silently.

We read aloud, according to these writers, to practice, or as part of a play, or during a speech. And we read in silence, among other reasons, to recognize meanings, to recreate stories or to memorize. (The rest of the book includes a delightful selection of tales and stories exemplifying all those reasons.)

Now that we know something about why we read, what happens when we read? Before answering that question, we should first answer this one: who can read?

For millennia, reading was reserved for just a few privilege people. It is estimated that 1000 years ago only 5 percent of the population in Europe was able to read. In our time, according to the UNESCO Institute of Statistics, almost 85 percent of the world population 15 and older knows how to read. And the number rises to almost 90 percent among those 15 to 24 years of age.

There are, of course, differences regarding gender –the percentage of women able to read is significantly lower than the percentage of men reading– and regarding countries. Leaving those differences aside, according to UNESCO, in most of the world at least 80 percent of the people know how to read. And what happens when they do it?

According to a study published a few months ago in the journal Brain Connectivity by a group of researchers of the Center for Neuropolicy at Emory University (in Atlanta, Georgia), reading “causes actual changes in the brain” and those changes could last for a few days and even for a long time.

Guided by neuroscientist Gregory Berns, the researchers compared the brain activity of 21 volunteer students during 19 days before and after reading a certain number of pages of the historical novel Pompeii, by Robert Harris.

Unlike previous studies focusing on cognitive aspects of reading, this studied focused on “lingering neural effects of reading a narrative.”

Berns and his team used “functional magnetic resonance imaging” (fMRI) to identify the brain activity of the volunteers before and after reading. In addition, the students had to complete questionnaires to verify they had indeed completed the assigned readings of Harris’ novel.

The results were clear: reading “heightened connectivity in the area of the brain associated with receptivity for language,” and that connectivity lasts even after the reading session is over. And something similar happens in the area “primary sensory motor” area of the brain. According to Berns, this is like exercising a muscle.

In brief, as Berns suggests, reading “could certainly have a bigger and longer-lasting effect on the biology of your brain” than previously thought. When you read, read at your own risk.

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