One may wonder what the phrase ‘reading is a great exercise for the brain’ means, or why is reading recommended by so many people as a ‘brain boost’. People may list numerous skills that reading supposedly improves. Furthermore, what does this all mean? And most importantly, is it true? The answer is yes, it is true. Reading is one of the best ways to learn new things, or reinforce things one already knows. While one may think that the only way to learn from reading would be through academic books, there are numerous non-academic skills that reading helps you with, such as memory and problem-solving. Both poetry and prose have many benefits to offer. Most would assume, up until this point, that reading was just another boring task assigned by school teachers, without taking a moment to consider what reading grants from a neurological standpoint. Different genres and types of literature, such as prose and poetry, affect the human brain on a neurological level.

Across many genres and styles of prose, each offers different benefits in both the short and long term. This is applicable to both children and adults. As Jessica Stillman summarizes:

Reading isn't just a way to cram facts into your brain. It's a way to rewire how your brain works in general. It strengthens your ability to imagine alternative paths, remember details, picture detailed scenes, and think through complex problems. (“This Is How Reading”)

When looking deeper into the short-term effects of reading prose, it is possible to uncover many interesting things. In a study performed by Gregory S. Berns, Kristina Blaine, Michael J. Prietula, and Brandon E. Pye, twenty-one participants were monitored while reading Pompeii by Robert Harris over the course of nineteen days. The researchers noticed a rise in brain connectivity, brain’s communication, across all the different areas, “toward the climax of the novel” (Berns et al.). This immediately establishes a tie between patterns in the novel and patterns within the brain.

In a separate study done by Stanford researchers, researchers used an MRI machine to study brain patterns while participants were reading Jane Austen. It is well known that reading can be connected to executive functioning skills, (EF), or cognitive processes involved in problem solving-related behavior, but this study confirmed it. While participants were reading, researchers noted a “dramatic increase” in blood flow to regions associated with executive function (Goldman). However, they found something more. Blood flow was transported “beyond these areas” (Goldman). Natalie Phillips, who was the leading researcher, noted that this information “suggested” that reading needs a “far more complex” system than just that of EF (Goldman). This unlocks opportunities for deeper studies of EF in the future.

Along with this, brain activity can differ depending on the “style of reading,” such as deep reading or pleasure reading (Goldman). “Literary reading” boosts your brain’s “complex cognitive functions,” and “pleasure reading” increases blood flow to the brain ("Your Brain on Books"). On a more complex note, those with reading-related disabilities, such as dyslexia, show different brain activity compared to fluent readers. While fluent readers show activation in the right hemisphere of the brain when reading, dyslexic readers “exhibit more activation” in the left hemisphere (Shaul et al.). In this way, brain activity can directly be tied to the ease at which one reads. 

Another common phrase one may hear is that ‘reading makes stories come to life.’ This saying, to some degree, is actually true. Reading “lights up your brain” by causing it to mirror the actions and feelings in a book (Stillman). For example, if a character is holding something rough in their hands, like leaves, the parts of the brain associated with “sensory perception” light up (“This Is What a Great Book”). It is evident through these studies that no matter what type of literature one reads, the brain reacts.

Considering the effects of prose reading, the long-term effects differ from the short-term ones. One of the most prominent benefits is increased empathy. When reading a book, one can transport themselves into another character’s perspective, which, in the long run, allows for a growth in empathy. This is called ‘‘experience taking,” or “absorbing” a little from each character one reads about (Gouty). One’s behavior subconsciously mirrors the behavior and personalities of people in books one reads and changes it for the better. This ties into empathy, as being able to almost become the characters is a true way to step into someone else’s shoes. It was determined by researchers that romance novels “promoted” the most empathy, and science fiction novels promoted the least (Gouty). Empathy is extremely important in the social world. Individuals who are more empathetic will fare far better than those who lack it. In general, fiction allows for the most effect on personality, as the reader is able to “see” the “thoughts” of the characters and truly “understand their perspectives” (Gouty). But this effect can’t be obtained just by skimming a book. You must immerse yourself in a book, in a process called “deep reading,” for you to truly develop empathy for the characters ("Your Brain on Books"). 

In a study performed by Diana I. Tamir, Andrew B. Bricker, David Dodell-Feder, and Jason P. Mitchell, the differences between the effects of non-fiction versus fiction were explored. They were able to make ties between participants' social abilities and the genres of books they read the most. Their findings suggested that those who read fiction more often showed higher empathy and the ability to think about others feelings and thoughts, also called Theory of Mind, than those who read non-fiction. When analyzing the social skills of children aged four to six, children who had been “exposed” to more fiction books “performed better” on ToM tasks than those who had not read as much fiction (Tamir et al.). This makes a link between not only prose’s benefit on the brain, but also how different genres have different effects. Furthermore, it creates a bridge to the last long-term effect: brain development and structure.

Exploring brain development, Carnegie Mellon administered a six-month reading program designed to improve participants' reading skills. The scientists working on the study found that the “white matter” volume in the “language area” of the brain actually increased in volume as the participants' reading skills increased ("Your Brain on Books"). The study proved that brain structure can be “improved” through this “training,” which shows that a love of reading can raise your EQ and IQ ("Your Brain on Books"). It is apparent that immersing oneself in prose has notable benefits in the long term. 

Prose, in all its variety, has a vast number of effects on the brain. But what about poetry? One may have heard the saying, ‘poetry is like music to the mind’, which sounds like a cliche, but is there science behind it? As Keith J. Holyoak states:

Suppose you wanted to exercise the parts of your brain that underlie language and thought. And emotion. And music. And that generates internal reward signals. And you wanted to trigger all of these brain regions simultaneously. What would you do? If you’re looking for a high-tech solution, you’ll have to wait for the right sort of neural “brain training” intervention to be invented. But there’s an easier way—pick up a book of poetry and start reading. (“Poetry on the Mind”)

Poetry’s effect on the brain is all about rhythm. The human brain loves patterns. Everywhere in life, it looks for them. Patterns, evidently, can be found in poetry in many different ways. The most obvious is the rhythm of a poem. The brain is “wired” to “recognize” all the different “rhymes” and “rhythms that poets use” (Kiger). Using recent fMRI technology, researchers have also discovered that the brain learns to “differentiate” between poetry and prose (Kiger). In a study done by researchers from the United Kingdom, subjects were asked to read poetry that followed certain rules of rhyme and rhythm and poetry that did not. The participants “categorized” the sentences that followed the rules as better compared to the sentences that were hardly poetry at all (Kiger). Going beyond the subjects’ opinions, the researchers used EEG devices to monitor the brainwaves of the participants and noticed a “distinctive burst of electrical activity” while they were reading the poetry that followed the rules. The researchers were able to make a clear tie between poetry and the brain, observing that poetry seemed to be “built in,” like an “intuition” (Kiger). 

When taking a closer look at the fMRI, it was discovered that not only did poetry trigger effects in the brain, but also triggered them in certain areas depending on the style of poetry. A separate group of researchers at the University of Exeter monitored subjects while reading a range of “deliberately dull” prose, to the subject's favorite poems (Kiger). The researchers found that the more emotion there was in a passage of poetry, the more the right side of the brain showed activation in the same areas that are activated by music. So, it seems to be true: poetry is literally like music to the brain. 

Whether through poetry, prose, or whatever literature one likes best, the benefits are numerous. One may wonder, why does this all matter? Why does one care? If every time one would pick out something new to read one considered all these different factors, the brain would offer thanks emphatically. Improving Theory of Mind and empathy is as simple as reading fiction. Challenging your puzzle and problem-solving skills is as simple as reading non-fiction. To descend into the same bliss music brings is as easy as getting out a poetry book and letting oneself fall into deep reading. It is easy to let a book bore oneself by approaching it with a negative attitude. Instead, consider what it's doing for the brain, whether in the short or long-term. From poetry to prose, novels to journals, science fiction to fantasy, literature influences the brain on a neurological level. 

Works Cited

Berns, Gregory S., et al. “Short- and Long-Term Effects of a Novel on Connectivity in the Brain.” Brain Connectivity, Edited by Mary Ann Liebert, 2013, www.ncbi.nlm
.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3868356/. 

Goldman, Corrie. “This Is Your Brain on Jane Austen, and Stanford Researchers Are Taking Notes.” Stanford University, 7 Sept. 2012, news.stanford.edu/news/2012/september/
austen-reading-fmri-090712.html. 

Gouty, Melissa. “Can Reading Literary Fiction Make You a Better Person?” LiteratureLust, 22 Sept. 2020, www.literaturelust.com/post/can-reading-literary-fiction
-make-you-a-better-person. .

Kiger, Patrick J. “The Human Brain Is Hardwired for Poetry.” HowStuffWorks Science, 20 May 2021, science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/human-brain/how-
poetry-affects-human-brain.htm.

Shaul, Shelley, et al. “Brain Activity While Reading Words and Pseudo-Words: A Comparison between Dyslexic and Fluent Readers.” International Journal of Psychophysiology, Elsevier, 29 Mar. 2012, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii
/S0167876012000943. 

Stillman, Jessica. “This Is How Reading Rewires Your Brain, According to Neuroscience.” Inc.com, Inc., 22 Feb. 2021, www.inc.com/jessica
-stillman/reading-books-brain-chemistry.html. 

—. “This Is What a Great Book Does to Your Brain.” Inc.com, Inc., 24 Sept. 2018, www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/this-is-what-a-great-book-does-to-your-brain.html. 

Tamir, Diana I., et al. “Reading Fiction and Reading Minds: The Role of Simulation in the Default Network.” Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, Oxford UP, Feb. 2016, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4733342/. 

Keith J. Holyoak. “Poetry on the Mind and in the Brain.” The MIT Press, 1 Apr. 2019, mitpress.mit.edu/blog/poetry-mind-and-brain. 

“Your Brain on Books: 10 Ways Reading Affects Psyche.” OEDB.org, 31 Mar. 2016, oedb.org/ilibrarian/your-brain-on-books-10-things-that-happen-to-our-minds-when-we-read/.