Scientists are constantly investigating the impact that reading has on the human brain. As it turns out, brain activity widely varies when you compare reading to watching television.
After a long day at work, tucking into a book – no matter how good – is likely the last thing your brain wants to do.
With numerous streaming services beaming from your television and Instagram prompting you to ‘watch some of today’s most popular reels!’, why not kick back and be hypnotised by blue light for a few hours?
Truthfully, we’ll all opt for shutting down our brains sometimes, and there’s really no shame in that. That said, a growing catalogue of scientific research presents a solid argument for picking up a book instead.
From raising our attention span, improving memory, and bolstering our capacity to understand emotions – choosing a book over television and social media can provide an infinitely stronger sense of well-being.
But reading provides benefits for anyone who engages in it. It is akin to a high-intensity workout for your mind, activating a ‘complex network of circuits and signals,’ in many different areas of the brain at once.
Observing the MRI brain scans of people told to read more regularly, researchers found that these neural connections become stronger the more we stimulate them, ultimately improving our cognitive function and ability.
This is likely because our minds are presented with the task of bringing words on a page to life. We’re not relying on external imagery – like those provided by a TV screen – and are instead forced to tap into our imagination, recall our personal experiences, and use our inner knowledge to create a scene within our heads.
Interestingly, a 2013 study observed the brain activity of a group of people reading the book Pompeii. They noticed that when tension built in the story, more and more areas of the subjects’ brains lit up with activity, including areas ‘associated with bodily sensations’.
For example, when reading a passage about a character on a beach, the reader’s brain would fire neural connections in the same areas that would light up if they were actually standing on the beach themselves. Pretty cool, right?
Following a similar theme, other research suggests that reading boosts our capacity for empathy – especially if it’s literary fiction. They say that delving into the inner lives, thoughts, and feelings of a fictional character allows us to exercise a greater capacity for understanding others in real life.
This skill is referred to in psychology as the ‘theory of mind’ and is believed to be vital for establishing, navigating, and nurturing social connections. Arguably, the world could use a lot more of this right now.
What we’ve lost
Although millions of people still love to read, our attention spans are far more limited than they used to be.
Social media apps constantly compete for our attention – and they are often successful. So successful, that the average person could read 200 books in the time they spend on social media each year!
This is problematic, as captions and text-based content online often contain a limited vocabulary. They may help us to maintain our reading level, but won’t challenge our brains, nor do they demand we focus on a single topic for very long, leaving us cognitively stagnant.
By contrast, reading the length of a single plot – also known as ‘deep reading’ – activates our left brain. This area of the brain is responsible for language, reasoning and abstract thinking. As a result, we are able to improve our vocabulary level and ability to focus for extended periods.
This kind of reading is the opposite of skimming an article on a smartphone or tablet, which you may be tempted to do right now. Because why read when so many books have been adapted for television series?
Well, a 2013 study looked into the effects that TV has on children’s brain development. It found that ‘the more hours of television the kids watched, the lower their verbal test results became. These negative effects in the brain happened regardless of the child’s age, gender, and economic background.’
When watching TV, brain activity switches from the left side – which is responsible for logical thought and critical analysis – to the right side. By handing the job over to our visually dominant ‘right brain,’ we stop critically analysing incoming information. This has caused Harvard researchers to label watching TV as an ‘impoverished’ stimulation of the brain.
Finally, reading can offer an escape from the stress of our everyday lives. This makes it a far more appealing alternative to scrolling through social media, where constant false depictions of everybody’s ‘perfect and interesting’ lives tend to leave us feeling worse off.
By delving into a novel about a fantasy world, guided by the mind of another person or character, we can easily become swept up in the imagined experiences of the characters. For those into non-fiction, self-help books can help readers discover new perspectives and helpful coping strategies.
Gamifying the experience
While finding time to read can certainly be a challenge in our fast-paced, digital world, there are tons of ways to use the internet to your advantage when setting a goal to read more often.
Platforms such as Goodreads and Storygraph are particularly easy and fun to use. They can be helpful in discovering and creating a reading list based on your chosen topics of interest – and you can read user-written reviews of books beforehand!
On top of this, bookworms no longer have to gather in libraries or cafés to select and discuss the ‘book of the month’. Anyone with internet access can now get involved with free-to-join online book clubs and start reading some of the most popular new releases as well as the occasional classics.
If you needed any more motivation to start reading, check out the Omni calculator to translate your screen time into reading time. It may be shocking, so don’t say I didn’t warn you!
I’m Jessica (She/Her). I’m the Deputy Editor & Content Partnership Manager at Thred. Originally from the island of Bermuda, I specialise in writing about ocean health and marine conservation, but you can also find me delving into pop culture, health and wellness, plus sustainability in the beauty and fashion industries. Follow me on Twitter, LinkedIn and drop me some ideas/feedback via email.
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