Oumayma Jandoubi – 1st year group 3

Topic : The benefits of reading.

In the 11th century, a Japanese woman known as “Murasaki Shikibu”, wrote the “ The Tale of Genji ”
: a fifty-four-chapter story of courtly seduction . This novel is believed to be the first novel in the
history of literature. Nearly two thousand years later, many individuals around the world are still
engrossed by novels – even in an era where stories appear on handheld screens and disappear twenty-
four hours later .This proves that reading is a very preferable and requisite activity for the human
being , but what exactly do human beings gain from this activity ? Is it solely a matter of pleasure ?
Or are there other benefits beyond enjoyment? The scientific answer is a resounding “yes“ . Reading
benefits the readers mentally ; by strengthening the capacities of the brain , and preventing mental
diseases such as “ Alzheimer’s ” , and psychologically ; by reducing the level of stress , and
improving the level of empathy .

Some may think of it as an exaggerative statement to make , that reading , in fact , rebuilds
and reestablishes the brain , however , unlocking the meaning in a string of symbols while
reading does require complex neural circuity , therefore , repetitive reading makes the brain
go through this process which will gradually lead to the improvement of the white matter -
the part of the brain that contains myelinated nerve fibers which is responsible for
transmitting signals between the areas of grey matter : the part that is responsible for
processing the information , by making the comprehension of visual , oral and written tasks
much easier . PITTSBURGH-Carnegie Mellon University scientist Timothy Keller, have
uncovered the first evidence that intensive instruction to improve reading skills in young
children causes the brain to physically rewire itself, creating new white matter that improves
communication within the brain . .As the researchers report today in the journal “Neuron” ,
brain imaging of children between the ages of 8 and 10 showed that the quality of white
matter — the brain tissue that carries signals between areas of grey matter, where information
is processed — improved substantially after the children received 100 hours of reading . after
the reading process , imaging indicated that the capability of the white matter to transmit
signals efficiently had increased .

Another study conducted by Marcin Szwed , Paulo Ventura , Luis Querido , Laurent Cohen and
Stanislas Dehaene , looked at 31 adults who started reading at an early age, 22 individuals who
learned to read as adults, and ten people who were illiterate. The scientists used functional magnetic
resonance imaging scans to measure and compare brain function of the participants as they responded
to oral language, written language, and visual tasks.In readers, the occipital lobe, the visual processing
center of the brain, was more developed. This means that the readers could process visual information
more efficiently. This brain trait could translate into enhanced imagination and creativity skills as well
as being able to visualize the future better for decision-making and planning. The readers’ parietal
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lobes were also strengthened. The parietal lobe turns letters into words and words into thoughts. It is
essential to writing and reading comprehension. Reading helps the individuals’ brains process
information both visually and verbally more effectively. Brains that cannot read might also struggle to
process even verbal information which could be why a slow reader may lag in other academic areas ,
therefore , reading improves every aspect of a person’s communication skills. Essentially , reading
does make the human brain function better ; after the rewiring process that occur while reading ,
comprehension of any sort of tasks – whether oral , written or visual – becomes much more easier
.Therefore , improving the academic performance of an individual .

Reading indeed is a very cognitively challenging and stimulating activity whereas Around 33% of
the brain is involved in analyzing visual information which would consequently help in preventing
cognitive decline marked by neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s. According to professor
and scientist Sabine Kastner, the left hemisphere of the brain is largely responsible for reading and
comprehension. The object cortex of our brains, located in this region, recognizes shape characteristics
of what we see. When reading, the object cortex creates word banks based on physical characteristics
of letters, words, and sentences. Reading prevents Alzheimer’s by keeping these key areas of the brain
active. A study conducted by “Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation” suggests that
reading helps to keep memory and thinking skills intact . . The findings add to growing evidence that
mental challenges including reading , may help to preserve brain health and stave off symptoms of
Alzheimer’s in old age. “Our study suggests that exercising your brain by taking part in activities such
as these across a person’s lifetime, from childhood through old age, is important for brain health in old
age,” said study author Robert S. Wilson, at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. Professor
Wilson conducted a study that included the participants of “ Rush memory and aging “project . For
this study , researchers looked closely at 294 elderly men and women, most in their 80s, who were
given tests of memory and thinking every year in the last years of their lives. The study participants
also completed questionnaires about how often they engaged in mentally stimulating tasks, such as
reading . After they died, at an average age of 89, their brains were examined at autopsy for evidence
of the physical signs of dementia, including the brain plaques and tangles of Alzheimer’s disease. The
researchers found that people who participated in mentally challenging activities , especially reading ,
both in early and late in life, had a slower rate of decline in memory compared to those who did not
engage in such activities. Even when people had plaques and tangles and other signs of damage to
their brains, mental stimulation seemed to help protect memory and thinking skills, accounting for
about 14 percent of the difference in decline beyond what would be expected.

Therefore , we can conclude that reading “blesses“ the human brain , not only does it make it function
and comprehend any sort of tasks better , it also prevents age -related decline by keeping the parts of
brain that are likely to shut down at an advanced age continue to function properly , therefore making
Oumayma Jandoubi – 1st year group 3

senior readers somehow immune to the most threatening and common disease among seniors which is
Alzheimer’s . Aside from the physical aspect , the benefits of reading surpasses the scientific physical
concrete medium , to the psychological and moral one . As a matter of fact , reading enhances our
ability of sympathizing and understanding the feelings of others ; as the characters of the narrative go
through different experiences , and express different sentiments ranging from discomfort and
sorrow , to merriness and satisfaction , these sentiments get transmitted to the readers , and the readers
– most of the time subliminally – put themselves in the position of these characters to imagine how
would it be if they were them , or simply to further understand these feelings .Through this process ,
the readers engage in an operation of psycho-analysis through which they come to fully imagine , and
even feel how these fictitious characters feel , therefore , their ability of sympathizing would
gradually and automatically improve . According to Peterson, J. B in the “ Journal of Research in
Personality “ , studies have found that those who read more are better at interpreting social cues in
their environment , and ultimately better at understanding others. While we might think of people who
are bookworms as some sort of negative stereotype (a socially-isolated loner wearing glasses, sitting in
the corner reading while others are having fun ) ; reading as brain training might actually lead to a
better emotional processing of situations. This can be beneficial for children, teenagers, and as we
enter older age. Thus, a lifetime of reading can have benefits in terms of social intelligence—
something that can often get better with age. Another study conducted by Pub-Central : a highly
respected database from The National Health Organization , has shown that readers who read literary
fiction – stories that explore the inner lives of characters , show a heightened ability to understand the
feelings of others , and to sympathize with them .The researchers call this ability “ The Theory of
Mind “ a set of skills that is essential for building , navigating , and maintaining social
relationships .We might all agree that most individuals read to escape the aching and mundane reality
and seek refugee in a different dimension that is more meaningful and freer ; where we allow
ourselves to forget who we are and impersonate our preferred character in the narrative , or impose
ourselves on the plot in case we did not find a character that matches our personality , and feel and
live these written experiences as though they were ours . That is why reading , greatly reduces stress
and anxiety, and improves the psychological well- being .In 2009 , a group of researchers that belong
to Hall university , measured the effects of Yoga , humor , and reading on stress level of students in
demanding health science programs in the United States . The study found that 30 minutes of reading
lowered blood pressure , heart rate , and feelings of psychological distress just as effectively as Yoga
and humor did . As a matter of fact The United Kingdom Health Service has begun “ Reading Well “ :
a book on prescription program , where experts prescribe self-help books curated by medical experts
specifically for certain conditions , albeit these books are not fictional , the process of reading is
inevitable anyway . In conclusion , reading benefits the reader on many psychological aspects , like
improving the level of empathy , and most importantly reducing stress and anxiety caused by
routineness and cruelty of the modern world .
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In essence , the magnificent benefits of reading are seen in this inherent link between it and
psychological and physical well-being , as this activity helps in preventing age -related decline marked
especially by “ Alzheimer’s “ , improving the functioning of the brain , and finally reducing the level
of stress and anxiety .