When was the last time you sat down with a good book? Over the last couple of decades, the number of Americans reading for pleasure has been steadily dropping, with one large study finding that only 16% of people read for pleasure. Trends elsewhere are similarly in decline; in the U.K., the percentage of people who read regularly dropped 8% over the last decade or so.
This might seem like an unimportant, if slightly depressing, side effect of people’s attention being fixed on screens. But a new review published in Psychological Medicine suggests that reading for pleasure—sitting down and focusing on a book you actually look forward to cracking open—can have significant impacts on your brain and wellbeing.
This is your body on books
Reading has an effect from a very young age, says Barbara Sahakian, an emeritus professor of clinical neuropsychology at the University of Cambridge in the U.K. and an author of the new paper. In one study of about 10,000 children in the U.S., she and her colleagues found that kids who started to read for pleasure early in life were better adjusted later, regardless of their socioeconomic background. “They had better cognition, they had reduced symptoms of mental-health problems, they had better attention,” she says. They also spent less time on screens, slept longer, and performed better in school.
But reading for pleasure shouldn’t stop in childhood. Studies of adult reading habits show benefits as well. In the review, the authors note that readers often mention in surveys that they feel less lonely after they read. “‘It made me feel more connected to others. It made me understand other people’s point of view better, and gave me more empathy.’ That comes up a lot in surveys,” Sahakian says.
There are neuroimaging studies to back up that finding, she continues. “When you read fiction, particularly stories that are rich in social content, it activates areas in the brain that we know are involved in social cognition, areas that always come up when you’re doing studies of theory of mind or understanding things from other people’s point of view,” she says.
Surveys indicate a link to stress reduction as well. “With reducing stress, it seems to happen really quickly,” Sahakian says. “If you get engrossed in a book, then your mind and your attention are really focused on reading and the content, which means it takes your attention away from other things. You don’t start ruminating about problems that you have…you forget all of that. So it’s a little bit like mindfulness in that regard, because the attention is so focused.”
The benefits of reading in older age
Some of the research Sahakian finds most exciting focuses on older people’s reading habits. She refers to one study in Taiwan that followed people over age 64 for 14 years. “People who just read once a week had a significantly reduced risk of cognitive decline over that 14-year period, and importantly, it didn’t relate to educational levels,” she says. “What is so good about reading is that you get these benefits regardless of socio-economic background or educational level. It will improve your brain. It will improve your cognition. It will improve your well-being,” she says.
If it’s been a while since you’ve read for pleasure, there’s no need to start with War and Peace. Reading works best when it relates to something you are actually interested in, says Sahakian. Try a magazine or book related to a hobby or special interest to start.
Do audiobooks count?
There’s not as much research about the body’s response to listening to audiobooks, so the trends are less clear. One study found that students who studied written material did better on a quiz later than students who listened to the material on a podcast, suggesting that taking facts in through the ears can make it harder to absorb them.
Perhaps more importantly, when it comes to reading for pleasure, people often listen to audiobooks while they are doing something else—like driving, gardening, or doing the dishes. That suggests, says Sahakian, that they aren’t producing the same feeling of absorption that reading text does.
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