How Reading Rewires the Brain

Reading a good book can provide entertainment and relaxation, but it also turns out that it can be good for the brain, too. Reading changes the way we visualize and process information, ranging from identifying important facts to allowing us to better recognize people's faces. Since reading is relatively new in the grand scheme of things, with humans only inventing the act a few thousand years ago, it's interesting to think about how it's still shaping our brains. The practice has sparked quite a number of studies on how reading rewires the brain and the findings are pretty surprising.

Enhanced Visual Processing

One of the most interesting findings is that reading helps enhance our brain’s ability to visually process information. The same networks of the brain that are responsible for processing the shapes and scribbles we encounter while reading also help us process other kinds of visual information, too — including people’s faces and houses.

One question scientists wondered for a long time was whether reading would affect the brain’s ability to recognize and remember things since there is limited space in the brain. However, after conducting a study with literate and non-literate people, researchers discovered that when we read, visual word areas of the brain form so that our responsiveness remains active in other areas as well. The study’s findings suggest that when we learn to read, it sharpens the brain’s visual responses and has a positive impact on the entire visual system.

Heightens Brain Connectivity

When we read, our brains show heightened connectivity in the left temporal cortex — or the part of the brain that’s associated with the receptivity of language. A study in which participants were given reading assignments found that reading changes resting-state brain connectivity. What’s more, functional magnetic resonance imaging (or fMRI) scans found the brain had heightened states of connectivity the day after participants read part of a book and for five days after they completed the book.

Improves Information Processing

The thalamus is responsible for filtering visual information, which it then passes to the visual cortex to pick out the important parts. When we learn to read, even as adults, it helps improve the exchange of information between the thalamus and visual cortex. This enhances our perception and increases our ability to identify important information quickly.

Research has found that reading performance also improves when the connection between the thalamus and visual cortex is better. This means that everyone should learn to read and be encouraged to read as much as possible — even those who struggle with it, as brain improvements are part of the package. Researchers also believe that reading may become easier for individuals with dyslexia when the connection between these two areas of the brain improves.

Links Parts of the Brain Together

Reading helps link parts of the brain that weren’t previously connected. Basically, learning to read helps build the brain’s architecture.

When we read, the information travels from parts of the brain using this process:

• Occipital lobe — When readers see a word, the information travels from the eyes to the occipital lobe, which processes it like other visual stimuli.

• Left fusiform gyrus, or “letterbox” — From the occipital lobe, the information then gets passed on to the left fusiform gyrus — or the brain’s “letterbox,” which processes letters as words and allows us to recognize words, regardless of font. The letterbox develops only because of reading; children and illiterate adults both lack this letterbox.

• Frontal and temporal lobes — After the information journeys through the letterbox, it travels to the frontal and temporal lobes, which identify the meaning and pronunciation of the word. These areas are specialized for language and are activated at any time we hear words.

This process may sound time-consuming, but it doesn’t take the brain even half a second. In addition, this process is why reading becomes easier with practice. When we first begin learning to read, it’s a struggle, but it becomes automatic over time as we build the connections to make the process faster and easier for our brains. The brain’s architecture changes and these areas of the brain learn to work together to help us read.

Reading may seem like great entertainment, but the more we investigate the process, the more we learn about the unknown benefits of this already enjoyable activity.

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