How deep reading affects our brain

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The more you read, the more competent and interesting you write. And the choice of the right literature plays an important role here. In this article, we will tell you how deep reading differs from shallow reading and what books you need to read to become a great writer.

A study published in the Journal of Business Administration found that the books students read in college directly affect their literacy rates. The more and faster a person reads, the better he is able to express his thoughts in writing. Moreover, the correct choice of literature means much more than constant written practice.

Students who read science journals, classic fiction and non-fiction literature are better at constructing syntactically complex sentences than those who read straightforward fiction (detective, fantasy, science fiction) or exclusively web aggregators like Reddit, Tumblr, and Buzzfeed. The highest scores were received by students who read serious academic publications, the lowest by those who read only web content.

Difference between deep and shallow reading

Deep reading is slow, thoughtful reading of texts with difficult moral questions, which differs from shallow reading not only by learning new words.

Deep reading is possible only if you have a text that contains a lot of details, allusions, metaphors. Then, in the reader's brain, the same areas are activated that are involved in experiencing new experiences.

In addition, deep reading helps to increase empathy, the ability to empathize. The reader, plunging deeper into the read, begins to reflect, analyze and try on the read for himself and his experience. Also, while reading, a person notices what exactly - author's techniques, stylistic features, plot construction - makes the book fascinating and unique, which means that he learns to write at a more serious level.

Superficial reading is text that you can find on online blogs or entertainment sites (especially articles with lists and yellow headings). Such texts lack original style, point of view and analysis that could stimulate thought. These are light short texts that you quickly glide over and forget after a few minutes.

Deep reading synchronizes brain regions

Deep reading involves the parts of the brain responsible for vision, hearing, and speech. When reading and writing, the following brain centers are activated:

• Brock Center:allows you to perceive rhythm and syntax, helps to combine individual speech movements into a single speech act.
• Wernicke region:affects the perception of individual words and meaning in general.
• Angular gyrus:responsible for the perception and use of language.

These centers are interconnected by a group of fibers that seem to help the writer connect and synchronize language with rhythm. When reading, your brain senses the intonation that is inherent in complex texts, and then tends to imitate it when you write yourself.

There are two ways you can use deep reading to improve your writing skills.

1. Read poems

In a study published in the Journal of Consciousness Studies, scientists reported finding activity in areas of the brain responsible for reading that manifested itself differently when reading different texts.

The more emotionally rich the text was, the more often the areas of the brain (mainly in the right hemisphere), which usually respond to music, responded to what was written.

Comparing poetry and prose, scientists were able to prove that when reading poetic texts, the cortex of the posterior cingulate gyrus and the medial temporal lobe, the areas of the brain responsible for introspection, are activated.

When subjects read their favorite poems, the brain regions responsible for memory were more active than the regions responsible for reading. This means that rereading your favorite poems is a kind of good memory that evokes strong emotions. Strong emotions are always good for creative writing.

• Complete collection of poems by Eduard Asadov →
• 100 poems that will touch the harshest men →
• Poems by Sergei Yesenin →
• Complete Works of Alexander Pushkin →
• Poems and songs by Vladimir Vysotsky →

2. Read classic fiction

Understanding the psychological state of other people is an essential skill for building complex social relationships inherent in human society. And this is what helps the writer create interesting characters and situations.

In the theory of consciousness, not much research has been done to understand how our consciousness differs from the consciousness of other people and how our emotions differ. But recent experiments have shown that reading classical fiction helps to better understand other people's emotions, state, and peculiarities of thinking.

Reading fiction is more cognitive than reading magazines, interviews, and even non-fiction literature.

• 10 books proving that classics aren't boring
• 13 books that inspired the CEOs of famous corporations: Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Elon Musk and others
• 9 books that change lives for the better
• 100 books that changed the world
• 10 books with a famously twisted plot, from which you can not tear yourself away

Focus on deep reading instead of watching TV

Time spent watching television is almost always wasted, as the brain’s learning and perception abilities almost instantly drop to a minimum.

Reading posts in funny public pages, articles in entertainment magazines, and light fiction can be fun, but it doesn't do any good for the brain. If you are serious about learning to write well, spend more time thoughtfully reading fiction, poetry, science and art articles that use complex language and make you think.