"The neural changes that we
found associated with physical sensation and movement systems suggest
that reading a novel can transport you into the body of the
protagonist," says Gregory Berns. "We already knew that good stories can
put you in someone else's shoes in a figurative sense. Now we're seeing
that something may also be happening biologically." (Credit: Ali Eminov/Flickr)
found associated with physical sensation and movement systems suggest
that reading a novel can transport you into the body of the
protagonist," says Gregory Berns. "We already knew that good stories can
put you in someone else's shoes in a figurative sense. Now we're seeing
that something may also be happening biologically." (Credit: Ali Eminov/Flickr)
Does reading actually change the brain?
Posted by Carol Clark-Emory on
After reading a novel, actual changes linger in the brain, at least for a few days, report researchers.
Their findings, that reading a novel may cause changes in
resting-state connectivity of the brain that persist, appear in the
journal Brain Connectivity.
“Stories shape our lives and in some cases help define a person,”
says neuroscientist Gregory Berns, lead author of the study and the
director of Emory University’s Center for Neuropolicy. “We want to
understand how stories get into your brain, and what they do to it.”
Neurobiological research using functional magnetic resonance imaging
(fMRI) has begun to identify brain networks associated with reading
stories. Most previous studies have focused on the cognitive processes
involved in short stories, while subjects are actually reading them as
they are in the fMRI scanner.
The study focused on the lingering neural effects of reading a
narrative. Twenty-one Emory undergraduates participated in the
experiment, which was conducted over 19 consecutive days.
All of the study subjects read the same novel, Pompeii, a 2003 thriller by Robert Harris that is based on the real-life eruption of Mount Vesuvius in ancient Italy.
“The story follows a protagonist, who is outside the city of Pompeii
and notices steam and strange things happening around the volcano,”
Berns says. “He tries to get back to Pompeii in time to save the woman
he loves. Meanwhile, the volcano continues to bubble and nobody in the
city recognizes the signs.”
The researchers chose the book due to its page-turning plot. “It
depicts true events in a fictional and dramatic way,” Berns says. “It
was important to us that the book had a strong narrative line.”
For the first five days, the participants came in each morning for a
base-line fMRI scan of their brains in a resting state. Then they were
given nine sections of the novel, about 30 pages each, over a nine-day
period. They were asked to read the assigned section in the evening, and
come in the following morning.
After taking a quiz to ensure they had finished the assigned reading,
the participants underwent an fMRI scan of their brain in a
non-reading, resting state. After completing all nine sections of the
novel, the participants returned for five more mornings to undergo
additional scans in a resting state.
The results showed heightened connectivity in the left temporal
cortex, an area of the brain associated with receptivity for language,
on the mornings following the reading assignments.
“Even though the participants were not actually reading the novel
while they were in the scanner, they retained this heightened
connectivity,” Berns says. “We call that a ‘shadow activity,’ almost
like a muscle memory.”
Heightened connectivity was also seen in the central sulcus of the
brain, the primary sensory motor region of the brain. Neurons of this
region have been associated with making representations of sensation for
the body, a phenomenon known as grounded cognition. Just thinking about
running, for instance, can activate the neurons associated with the
physical act of running.
“The neural changes that we found associated with physical sensation
and movement systems suggest that reading a novel can transport you into
the body of the protagonist,” Berns says. “We already knew that good
stories can put you in someone else’s shoes in a figurative sense. Now
we’re seeing that something may also be happening biologically.”
The neural changes were not just immediate reactions, Berns says,
since they persisted the morning after the readings, and for the five
days after the participants completed the novel.
“It remains an open question how long these neural changes might
last,” Berns says. “But the fact that we’re detecting them over a few
days for a randomly assigned novel suggests that your favorite novels
could certainly have a bigger and longer-lasting effect on the biology
of your brain.”
His co-authors include Kristina Blaine and Brandon Pye from the
Center for Neuropolicy, and Michael Prietula, professor of information
systems and operations management at Emory’s Goizueta Business School.
Source: Emory University
