Reading
Reading has always been an inseparable part of my life since I was a kid. I cannot stress the importance of reading enough for all my readers. If you aren’t sure about the benefits of reading yet,
Check out my recent blog post emphasizing 25 significant reading benefits.
If you’re already convinced about reading and now want to become an avid reader like me,
Find out here how you can read more and faster.
To convince you scientifically about the benefits of reading, I am sharing this Ted Talk by Rita Carter on my blog that I came across recently on YouTube. It stresses on reading fiction and illustrates the scientific benefits of reading it. Yay! My favorite genre.
I’ve linked the YouTube video in my post, but for those of you who prefer READING (haha), I’ve also jotted down the highlights of the talk. Go read or Watch!
About the Speaker
Rita Carter, a writer, broadcaster, and journalist. She specializes in the human brain's workings. Her written books include the first layman’s guide to neuroscience: Mapping the Mind, which has been translated into 14 languages. She presented London’s nightly news program, “Thames News”. She has written for magazines and newspapers worldwide, including the London Times, Telegraph, Guardian, and New Scientist, for seven years in a row. She is very interested in bringing art and science together and is a Patron at the London-based Foundation “Art and Mind” and has won many awards for her work, including, on three occasions, the Medical Journalists Association award for excellence, and she holds an Honorary Ph.D. in Brain science from Leuven University – one of Europe’s oldest academic institutions.
Why Reading Fiction Matters by Rita Carter
Summary
One thing which would make you
- more imaginative
- make your memory better
- improve your relationships
- make you a more pleasant person
- and cost nothing
READING – but not educative or administrative reading or reading that we have to do.
Reading fiction – stories, reading from the perspective of the characters, reading through another's mind, reading by understanding another's point-of-view.
There are common myths around reading fiction – useless, waste of time, only for pleasure.
But that’s not true.
Evidence from the brain sciences to support it.
Theory of the Mind
Scientists David Kit and Emanuel Kastanov did a study in 2013 in New York.
What was done
- short passages from various books. – non-fiction, thrillers, fiction, where we read from inside the head of the characters.
- Those people were then shown photographs of people with intense facial expressions, and they were asked to narrate what they think was going on in the head of the people in the pictures.
The study emphasizes an intuitive ability we possess that enables us to guess through body language what is going on in a person's mind before us.
We step outside our heads for a moment and see the world from another point of view.
It sparks imagination and opens up new worlds for us. People lacking this ability are handicapped in social life.
Another reading group that Rita participated that had people with severe mental issues – depression or anxiety
- They were reading Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
- This habit changed the lives of many people in the group, Rita claims, and saved one.
So what is happening in people’s brains to witness this profound effect? - Brain Area Articulation
- Brains are made of neutrons, electrons, and cells, and they join together to form pathways that have electricity zapping through them, which is nothing but our thoughts, emotions, and feelings.
- Some pathways are handed down from our genes. Some new pathways need to be created to ensure optimum use of the brain. Reading enables that.
The difference between speaking and reading
- Speaking is genetic and natural.
- Reading is not genetic or natural; it has to be taught. So it creates new pathways, much like new experiences do.
- Speaking is straightforward – diagram
- Reading is far more work and creates networks of pathways. Forces the brain to use parts that aren’t otherwise used.
- Reading activates the brain regions that would be activated when doing the action without doing it – running, frightened, laughing, pain, anger, and moral judgments.
- Reading promotes learning and experiencing.
Effects of Reading on the Brain
Another research Emery University in the States to actually see inside the brain effects of reading
- Students read passages from very engaging and exciting novels, 30 pages a night, for five nights in a row.
- Brain scans before and after the exercise were conducted.
- Every morning after reading, scans showed the major part of the brain connected, and the connections got thicker and denser every day.
- So the brain was being given a workout.
- The scans resembled what would’ve happened if the people had actually lived the experiences they read about.
Conclusion
The brain needs a workout as much as your body, and reading fiction seems to be one of the best workouts. Not only is it useful for individuals but also for society as it promotes sympathy and empathy towards other people.
Now, are you wondering what to read next in Fiction. Let me help you with some books that you’ll find very exciting and engaging, just like Rita mentioned. Let your brain get that workout it needs and let that electricity go zapping in your brain.
Happy Reading!
Fiction Novels to workout your brain
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