Reading books is something that, time and time again, has been proclaimed the medium to knowledge – and thus power. The more you read, the more benefits you collect: cognitive, critical, factual, social, economic, cultural, spiritual, you name it.
What effect do books have on our lives? Could they really change how we view or think of the world? Is there really such a thing as a life-changing book?
From a scientific point of view, books have been found to actually alter the biology of your brain.
Researchers at Emory University in Atlanta looked at MRI brain scans to see how reading affects brain networks. They found that days after the participants had finished reading a novel, they were still able to exhibit high connectivity in their left temporal cortex, the brain region associated with language receptivity. In other words, reading changed how their brains react and process language.
Reading had a lasting effect on their brains’ physiology with the impact lingering on for days after reading took place.
What is more, increased activity was located in other brain regions too, namely the central sulcus brain region, the one associated with motor function.
What the researchers discovered is that the act of reading about an activity (for example, running, chopping wood, or driving) is enough to stimulate this motor activity brain area and momentarily make those brain neurons active, just as if the person reading were actually engaging in that physical activity.
Therefore, as studies show, our brains are definitely affected by what we read. From a more experiential and cognitive aspect, books are consistently changing people’s lives, mindsets, and outlooks. Any person with a favorite author or book will undoubtedly tell you the same.
A book will make you reconsider ethical values, even your religion and spirituality. A book will give you hope about humanity or confirm your long-held assumptions about the hopeless cruelty of people. A book will give you the skills to cope with a mental or physical malady, and it could give you relief, support, and encouragement while you go through a rough time in your life.
The ways a book can affect and in fact change your life are manifold, and that’s the pure magic of reading. We cannot anticipate or predict how we will react to a best-seller or how an old-time favorite will make us feel the third time we read it.
Books give us cues to follow and hint at possible solutions, they present puzzles to solve and issues to ponder. Books are enthralling windows to our psyche. They hold us by the hand while we pry into the unending space of our shared humanity.
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