Science Details Reading's Benefits for Brain and Wellbeing

A team of scientists has compiled research showing that reading for fun is associated with significant benefits for brain health and overall wellbeing. The findings draw on surveys and studies using longitudinal, neuroimaging, and behavioral methods.

Christelle Langley, a cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Cambridge and a co-author of the review, calls reading "one of the simplest and most accessible activities" for supporting cognitive performance and mental health throughout life. The analysis focused on children, adolescents, and older adults.

Benefits for Young Readers

One 2023 study involving over 10,000 participants found that those who started reading for pleasure early in life gained multiple advantages. Compared to non-readers, they had fewer mental health problems, greater academic achievement, and better attention, memory, and executive functioning. Early readers also adopted healthier lifestyles with less screen time and more sleep, and they showed improved cognitive performance in adulthood.

Past research cited in the review also links reading with improved literacy skills and connections to better mathematical achievement in young people. Psychologist Nick Buttrick, who was not involved in the review, notes a key difference from watching TV. "You have to construct the world" in your head when you read, he said, emphasizing the active work of imagination required.

Advantages for Adults and Older Adults

For adults, the review cites a survey suggesting regular reading fosters empathy, improves tolerance of different viewpoints, and reduces stress. That survey found just six minutes of reading could lower stress levels by nearly 70 percent. The activity also has social dimensions, particularly for older adults.

Shared reading groups and book clubs appear to provide additional benefits through social interaction, said Barbara Sahakian, a neuroscientist at Cambridge and co-author of the review. She stated these groups can help people feel less isolated and more connected, which has been shown to reduce the risk of dementia.

Physical Changes in the Brain

Neuroimaging studies reveal physical associations between reading and the brain. Early reading is linked to changes in certain brain structures, including larger volumes and cortical areas in regions involved in learning, emotional regulation, and cognition. Readers also tend to have better connectivity in the brain's white matter highways in areas used for language processing, as well as increased cortical thickness in language-critical regions.

The Unique Power of Fiction

The recent review follows another published in July in Current Opinion in Psychology that focused specifically on reading fiction. That analysis challenges the assumption that nonfiction, with its factual content, is more beneficial.

Raymond Mar, a psychologist at York University in Canada and co-author of the fiction review, says diving into a story provides better insight into our own experiences, insight into the experiences of others who are very different from us. He argues it evokes a form of reflection that is beneficial.

Mar and his colleagues highlight that reading narrative fiction might help reduce prejudice while improving happiness, wellbeing, and social skills. This research adds to the evidence for the wide-ranging advantages of being a bookworm, even as a separate study noted a reported 40 percent decline in the proportion of Americans reading for fun over the past two decades.