5 Incredible Benefits Of Reading Books For Your Brain
Reading is not just a great little everyday pleasure ; There are currently studies that show the benefits that this activity has for our brain.
And there is no activity that does not leave a mark on our nervous system, and reading is no exception. Furthermore, as it is a habit that can be incorporated into our daily lives and that involves many parts of our brain, its effects can be quickly noticed.
So getting into the world of fiction and non-fiction books not only makes us seem more cultured; It is also a way to achieve benefits that we will enjoy far beyond the public image we project.
These are some of the positive effects that reading has on our mind, although they do not have to be the only ones; More could be discovered over time. Science will tell.
1. Makes the brain more interconnected
There is evidence that the habit of reading books makes various groups of neurons in the brain more and better connected to each other. This occurs, at least, with the nerve cells of the left temporal lobe, closely related to language management.
That is to say, thanks to reading, neurons in our brain will tend to communicate more with each other, establishing stronger links between them. And why is this beneficial? Well, among other things, because It is known that a more interconnected brain makes the symptoms of dementia subside
This means that although the passage of time can cause many neurons to die, having created many available communication routes, our brain learns to “dodge” damaged routes by resorting to others.
2. It makes us empathize more and better
It has also been observed that reading fiction books, which have one or more protagonists, makes the neurons in the sensory motor area of the central sulcus better communicate, which is linked to a greater ability to put yourself in other people’s shoes. One of the most unexpected benefits of reading.
In some way, reading books makes us feel identified with what the characters do, coming to imagine ourselves doing what they do. This fact makes the readings become an empathy enhancer.
3. Helps beat stress
There is evidence that reading regularly allows us to introduce a small oasis of peace into our lives, a few moments of calm in which we experience sensations similar to those produced by meditation.
In fact, there are reasons to think that, When it comes to its stress-reducing power, reading is even more effective than going for a walk or listening to music An interesting conclusion that encourages us to disconnect with the classic pleasure of reading.
4. It allows us to sleep better
Making reading a bedtime ritual can make falling asleep easier and, consequently, give our brains better health and time to repair.
What explains this is that reading fiction is a way to disconnect from our daily worries and that means that it allows our attention to be disengaged from obligations, problems with work, etc.
Reading is, in short, a good way to stop rumination, and it makes us more capable of avoiding falling into those thoughts that put us on alert all the time. This makes it less likely that our brain will remain active when trying to find solutions to what worries us, something that theoretically sounds good but in practice does not allow us to sleep, making us increasingly tired and having greater difficulty maintaining concentration.
5. Books help us exercise our memory
Regular reading of poetry has been shown to have an effect on our ability to remember elements, something that also happens with music. The key is that helps us link information with a certain type of emotional state generated by reading the verses and that allows us to remember better.
That is, emotions act as clues that lead us to certain kinds of memories associated with them, something that is closely related to the discoveries about memory that psychologist Gordon Bower discovered a few decades ago.
