One Stanford professor coined it “mental weight-lifting” while another called it “self-transformation.” Whatever the terminology, it actually refers to reading – specifically fiction, nothing else.
A recent study out of the University of Toronto discovered that reading fiction promotes changes in personality traits that lead to healthy self-improvements. Earlier research published in a 2004 issue of Poetics Today found that “reading fictional narratives has been found to involve processes of identification and self-implication” both of which lead to a healthy outlook on life. From psychology, we know that a healthy outlook promotes positive mental and physical health.
A similar study found that the brain does not make a distinction between reading about an experience and actually encountering it in real life because the same neurological regions in the brain are stimulated equally in both accounts.
Numerous neurological studies on fiction reading agreed that people who regularly read fiction books are better able to understand others and empathize with them. One particular factor was that preschool-age children who read fiction stories were found to have keener mind power. This keener mind was also discovered in children watching movies – but not television.
So what does that have to do with your health? Quite a bit. According to Stanford Professor Joshua Landy, reading fiction opens the doors to creative thinking, which is a perfect way to exercise the brain. Additional studies that involve exercising your brain through various mental activities have been known to ward off Alzheimer’s disease and other brain-related disorders.
One of the key factors of reading in general is that it promotes health within the brain itself. When you read, you are actually performing a very complex task that is both physical and mental. First, there is an increase in blood flow to the brain, which stimulates neural activity. Furthermore, when reading becomes more intense, the brain displays distinct patterns that researchers say are “far more complex than just work and play.” Studies are still trying to discover the nature of that complexity. Whatever it reveals, one thing is certain: Reading promotes healthy brain function.
What’s further intriguing is that specific fiction stories – mainly those involving both human and animal characters – have been found to greatly heighten empathy, cause psychological shifts in thought processes and promote cultural changes in the readers’ perceptions. For example, Jack London’s Call of the Wild and Richard Adams’ Watership Down strongly promote a sympathetic imagination, prompting the reader to step into the protagonist’s shoes in the story then transform those empathetic characteristics into daily life.
Of interest, many college students of literature as well as avid non-fiction readers argue that fiction writers take too long to get to the point. But, that’s the whole idea…those lengthy descriptions allow the brain to create a picture of the scene, connect with it in a personal way, become emotionally involved with it, and perhaps become part of the story. Non-fiction does not provide that opportunity. It divulges facts and tells the story the way it happened, leaving little room for creative thought.
So, start exercising your brain today! No time for the gym…Pick up a book – particularly a fiction one – and get that workout in. You won’t regret the resulting health benefits you’ll experience.
References:
Beierl, B. H. (2008). The sympathetic imagination and the human-animal bond: Fostering empathy through reading imaginative literature. Anthrozoos, 21(3), 213-220.
Burns, M. (2012). The reading brain: How your brain helps you read, and why it matters. Retrieved from http://www.scilearn.com/blog/the-reading-brain.php.
Djikic, M., Oatley, K., Zoeterman, S., & Peterson, J. B. (2009). On being moved by art: How reading fiction transforms the self. Creativity Research Journal, 21(1), 24-29.
Goldman, C. (2012). Fiction books give a boost to the brain, says Stanford professor. Retrieved from http://news.stanford.edu/news/2012/july/fiction-boost-brain-070312.html.
Paul, A. M. (2012). Your brain on fiction. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/18/opinion/sunday/the-neuroscience-of-your-brain-on-fiction.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0.
Stanford University. (2012). MRI reveals brain’s response to reading. Retrieved from http://www.futurity.org/science-technology/mri-reveals-brain%E2%80%99s-response-to-reading/.
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