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Brain Function "Boosted For Days After Reading a Novel"

Posted by samzenpus on from the fifty-shades-of-grey-matter dept.

cold fjord writes "The Independent reports, 'Being pulled into the world of a gripping novel can trigger actual, measurable changes in the brain that linger for at least five days after reading ... The new research, carried out at Emory University ... found that reading a good book may cause heightened connectivity in the brain and neurological changes that persist in a similar way to muscle memory. The changes were registered in the left temporal cortex, an area of the brain associated with receptivity for language, as well as the primary sensory motor region of the brain. Neurons of this region have been associated with tricking the mind into thinking it is doing something it is not, a phenomenon known as grounded cognition — for example, just thinking about running, 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," said neuroscientist Professor Gregory Berns, lead author of the study. "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."'"

28 of 110 comments (clear)

  1. Programming and Puzzle Solving by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I have to believe that programming and puzzle solving have similar effects. Also, I have to believe that being elected to any government position has the opposite effect.

    1. Re:Programming and Puzzle Solving by JoeMerchant · · Score: 3

      Being elected to government requires imagining what everybody wants, then projecting that image as convincingly as possible. It requires considerable brain power to achieve this, but comes at the expense of diminished capacity in other areas....

  2. How about video games? by minogully · · Score: 2

    I wonder if a similar thing happens when playing video games?

    1. Re:How about video games? by gbjbaanb · · Score: 3, Informative

      so in other words, using your brain for any creative activity, even if internal-only, is good exercise for your brain.

      Playing a computer game where you mindlessly click things does not achieve the same result.

    2. Re:How about video games? by phantomfive · · Score: 2

      Yes, although apparently the type of game matters.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  3. Boosted For Days After... by ls671 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Well, my brain is boosted for days after writing a neat piece of code.

    --
    Everything I write is lies, read between the lines.
    1. Re:Boosted For Days After... by boristdog · · Score: 5, Interesting

      The brain must be boosted after writing neat code. Because months or years later I often forget the slick solution I came up with, and I'm totally confused when I look at the code again. Then the little light comes on when I figure out what I did and I think "Gee, I was pretty clever!"

    2. Re:Boosted For Days After... by DrPBacon · · Score: 3, Funny

      Beautiful code needs no comments.

      --
      Spent All My Mod Points
    3. Re:Boosted For Days After... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      If someone other than you is going to have to maintain it one day, then yes, yes it does. In a professional environment, the answer is always yes.

      Just because I can figure out what a piece of code is doing doesn't mean I'll know why that was the chosen implementation. No comments means I and anyone else who has to look at it have to waste time figuring out if the person had a good reason for a certain approach or they just didn't know what they were doing.

      Code tells the what. Comments tell the why. Both are important in a team environment. Sadly, most people seem incapable of writing meaningful comments.

    4. Re:Boosted For Days After... by JoeMerchant · · Score: 2

      Before you can tell why, you have to know why...

    5. Re:Boosted For Days After... by bayankaran · · Score: 4, Funny

      Better...beautiful comment needs no code.

      --
      Tat Tvam Asi
    6. Re:Boosted For Days After... by thoughtlover · · Score: 3, Interesting

      The brain must be boosted after writing neat code. Because months or years later I often forget the slick solution I came up with, and I'm totally confused when I look at the code again. Then the little light comes on when I figure out what I did and I think "Gee, I was pretty clever!"

      I've found that my brain is boosted (often for up to as long as two weeks) after skiing or a long bike ride. I often find the solution to a problem soon after rigorous physical activity. It's also interesting to learn that physical activity aids cognitive health.

      --
      No sig for you! Come back one year!
  4. Cumulative? by DavidClarkeHR · · Score: 5, Informative

    The big question - is this cumulative? I want to improve my IQ, so I'll read 3-4 books this week ... but wait a minute, this sounds like school.

    Also, this study was done on students. At university (or college, for our american viewers). And didn't eliminate free time or stress relief as possible factors. Also, it was done in the USA, which doesn't have the most homogenous distribution of literacy (or even a consistent measure for literacy).

    I'm not saying it's bad science, I'm just saying there's another article about junk science on slashdot ... today ... and they're linked by correlation (but not causation). Also? Topical XKCD comic.

    --
    - Nec Impar Pluribus, or so I'm told.
    1. Re:Cumulative? by lonechicken · · Score: 2

      Right. Along those lines, probably variety in age too.

    2. Re:Cumulative? by Reapy · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Totally anecdotal, but when I get the bug to read a book and really get into it, it sort of reactivates my my imagination. I start writing a few more random things and will pull out a pencil and doodle in my 'design' book, or I just have much more clearly defined thoughts about stories to write or things to make. I've always just associated this with any kind of excitement, but thinking about it, reading definitely gives a different kind of 'awake' feeling than a good game or movie would.

      Coding doesn't really jolt my imagination, i typically feel good when a section is done and everything works well and is neatly organized, but have expended most of my energy in doing that, there isn't much left. When I read a book it is more coasting through someone elses work, so I feel awake mentally, ready to do something, rather than needing to randomly mash buttons in a game or something post coding.

  5. More by lonechicken · · Score: 5, Interesting

    They need a followup study. Just 21 people? How about listening to an audiobook? Does it have the same effect? When I'm bored at work and don't have to worry about distractions to my programming, I listen to audiobooks instead of music.

    1. Re:More by Hognoxious · · Score: 2

      with double-blind testing

      You mean Braille?

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  6. It has always worked for me by Gavin+Scott · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I find that reading a good book is like a complete exercise workout for your brain, and I know I feel a lot sharper when I'm reading regularly.

    If I'm having trouble working through some problem or other then taking some time to read is always helpful, even if the subject of the book is unrelated to the problem at hand.

    It seems as though it needs to be something with a lot of prose but either fiction or non-fiction works.

    Moderately technical non-fiction is OK as long as it is interesting and mentally stimulating (makes you stop and think etc.).

    But pure technical books don't seem to help at all and may just clutter things up with new knowledge that the brain is trying to assimilate. So for example pretty much anything from O'Reilly will not make me feel generally smarter even though it may be very good at cramming in the domain specific knowledge I need for some project.

    So just reading tech books is not very helpful at all, and needs to be supplemented with more general works from my experience.

    G.

    1. Re:It has always worked for me by Dcnjoe60 · · Score: 4, Informative

      It seems as though it needs to be something with a lot of prose but either fiction or non-fiction works.

      Moderately technical non-fiction is OK as long as it is interesting and mentally stimulating (makes you stop and think etc.).

      But pure technical books don't seem to help at all and may just clutter things up with new knowledge that the brain is trying to assimilate. So for example pretty much anything from O'Reilly will not make me feel generally smarter even though it may be very good at cramming in the domain specific knowledge I need for some project.

      So just reading tech books is not very helpful at all, and needs to be supplemented with more general works from my experience.

      G.

      Even more interesting is that the effect measured only applies to paper books. When the same book is read from an e-format, there is no lasting effect. This coincides with other studies that show that reading an e-book utilizes different parts of the brain than an actual book. The e-book registers in the same areas used when watching tv or a movie. The pathways used to interpret the information presented are different.

      All of that said, however, researchers indicate that more study is needed to determine if there is a bias to such data (book vs e-book) because most subjects being tested, grew up with traditional books. They estimate it will be another 10 to 15 years before adult subjects could be studied to see if growing up primarily with e-books alters the brain function in the same way. In otherwords, are the results for books because the subjects tested had their neural pathways developed using books (in which case would the results be the same if they had been formed by e-books)?

      Regardless, though, the study shows that reading is good, or as they used to say in the 70s (in the US) Reading is FUNdamental.

  7. This is verging on pseudoscience by umafuckit · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What does "boosted" actually mean? Fuck all. It's impressive that the task is sensitive enough to show up changes in the brain after reading a book, but scientifically it's not surprising: if you read a book and remembered something about it then there will be physical changes in your brain. There have to be. We've known that for decades. e.g. In 1997 it was shown that environmental enrichment causes production of new neurons in the hippocampus (http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v386/n6624/abs/386493a0.html).

    --
    soylentnews.org
    1. Re:This is verging on pseudoscience by cold+fjord · · Score: 4, Informative

      What does "boosted" actually mean? Fuck all

      The study is linked to in the story. Are you saying that the abstract (extract below) or paper give enough details for you, or didn't you read them?

      On the days after the reading, significant increases in connectivity were centered on hubs in the left angular/supramarginal gyri and right posterior temporal gyri. These hubs corresponded to regions previously associated with perspective taking and story comprehension, and the changes exhibited a timecourse that decayed rapidly after the completion of the novel. Long-term changes in connectivity, which persisted for several days after the reading, were observed in bilateral somatosensory cortex, suggesting a potential mechanism for “embodied semantics.”

      --
      much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
  8. Re:The next task is to find a good book. by Rolgar · · Score: 3, Informative

    I've created a websiteabout the books I plan on making available to my children. It's called Fanatics4Classics. The book covers are affiliate links to Amazon 1) because hopefully it will support the site and 2) I like to read Amazon reviews for books, and hopefully others will find them useful as well 3) Amazon has covers for most books, and using their bandwidth is free.

    I have an index (linked) of the best 800 fiction books and a huge history selection from Gutenberg (and torrents to download all of those books in either epub or mobi (for Kindle)).

    The Amazon links include all of the Gutenberg fiction (for those who like printed books or want to view the reviews) as well as another thousand books from the 20th century that are still under copyright. All of them are organized by reading level and genre.

    The site is not completed yet. I'm planning on linking to the best works of Science and other areas of study, a much more extensive list of history,and links to other sites my wife finds useful in homeschooling our kids.

    I'm doing this because my wife and I like the Thomas Jefferson Education model, and while they have a good selection of books on their site, I felt it was incomplete. Anyway, browse around, find something interesting, and read a book.

  9. Re:Slashdot threads by ColdWetDog · · Score: 2

    Do you think it also applies to reading slashdot threads ? I always feel very smart and often very sad after reading the comments section.

    Interesting. I usually feel like I should take another shower. Or at least wash my brain out with Clorox.

    --
    Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
  10. Any kind of sustained concentrated thinking does by WOOFYGOOFY · · Score: 2

    Any kind of sustained, concentrated thinking does this. The brain is very reactive and adapts quickly , instantly to stresses put on it in terms of not only coordination , balance and physical skill but also higher cognitive functions, abstract reasoning, emotional reasoning, meditation, self control, anything you can name. I have noticed generally the more vascular and active the tissue, the faster it adapts. Brains change like that. Muscles recover after 5 or so days. Tendons take weeks to heal. Bones take a even longer to heal (change).

  11. After I read a good book by Nyder · · Score: 2

    I find after I read a good book that I keep thinking about it for days. Usually on things I think the chars should of did, or how to deal with situation they did.

    I rarely get that way after movies or video games, but sometimes I do. (Half-Life 2 I did, really enjoyed that game).

    So basically if there is a good story, my mind will keep thinking on it for a few days.

    --
    Be seeing you...
  12. Strange, I find the opposite happens by PJ6 · · Score: 4, Funny

    after reading Slashdot comments. I feel dumber for days.

  13. So it is true by Old+Wolf · · Score: 2

    ‘A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, said Jojen. The man who never reads lives only one.’

  14. Re:Any kind of sustained concentrated thinking doe by WOOFYGOOFY · · Score: 2

    The vascular part I am guessing / noting / observing.. it's a ,thing I noted a long time ago is all.

      The rest of it is information readily available . The general topic goes by the name of neural plasticity which is broken down into functional and structural .

    It's not the thing I research specifically so I am not loaded down with bookmarks for you but I know all about it from undergrad

    For people with no neuroscience background there's books like The Brain That Changes Itself and of course it's a big area of research- pulled from the web without much effort:

    http://education.jhu.edu/PD/newhorizons/Neurosciences/articles/Response%20of%20the%20Brain%20to%20Enrichment/

    http://www.jneurosci.org/content/29/10/3019.full.pdf

    http://psyserv06.psy.sbg.ac.at:5916/fetch/PDF/21906988.pdf

    http://www.medicaldaily.com/talk-therapy-reverses-biological-structural-brain-changes-ptsd-patients-264229

    Some notes on one methodology:

    http://dbm.neuro.uni-jena.de/pdf-files/May-TICS11.pdf

    Aside from that, what exactly do you think phenomena like PTSD are? Purely disembodied psychological issues? If you've were or have ever repeatedly sustained hard study, you'd notice that your whole "self" changes in response to your efforts. You're smarter, your experience of everyday life is richer etc etc. This goes on as long as you're willing to inflict a good measure of discomfort on yourself.

    By the same token, leaving your studies for a time then coming back is an extraordinarily punishing affair. Along with feelings of inadequacy and bewilderment when faced with the same material you left even a few short weeks ago, there's a sense of awe at your own former self's output and level of functioning.

    Like the song says:

    When you're up / looks like a long ways down
    When you're down / looks like a long ways up

    Cheers