6 Science-Backed Reasons To Go Read A Book Right Now
In a world of omnipresent screens, it can be
easy to forget the simple pleasure of curling up with a good book. In
fact, a HuffPost/YouGov poll of 1,000 U.S. adults
found that 28 percent hadn't read one at all in the past year.
But the truth is that reading books can be
more than entertainment or a high school English assignment. A study released
earlier this month suggests that enjoying literature might help strengthen your
"mind-reading" abilities. The research,published in the journal Science, showed
that reading literary works (though, interestingly, not popular fiction)
cultivates a skill known as "theory of mind," whichNPR describes as the "ability
to 'read' the thoughts and feelings of others."
And that's hardly the only way being a
bookworm can boost your mind and well-being. Below, six more
science-backed reasons to swap the remote for a novel.
Reading can chill you out.
Stressed out? Pick up a paperback. Research
conducted in 2009 at the University of Sussex showed that reading was the most
effective way to overcome stress, beating out old favorites such as listening
to music, enjoying a cup of tea or coffee and even taking a walk, The Telegraph reported when the
findings were released. Measured by evaluating heart rate and muscle tension,
it took the study participants just six minutes to relax once they started
turning pages.
"It really doesn't matter what book you
read, by losing yourself in a thoroughly engrossing book you can escape from
the worries and stresses of the everyday world and spend a while exploring the
domain of the author's imagination," study researcher Dr. David
Lewis told The Telegraph.
It could help keep your brain sharp.
A lifetime of reading might just help keep
your brain in shape when you reach old age, according to research published
in the online issue of the journal
Neurology.
The study, which included 294 participants who died at an average age of 89,
found that those who engaged in mentally stimulating activities, such as
reading, earlier and later on in life experienced slower memory decline
compared to those who didn't. In particular, people who exercised their minds
later in life had a 32 percent lower rate of mental decline compared to their
peers with average mental activity. The rate of decline amongst those
with infrequent mental activity, on the other hand, was 48 percent faster than the average
group.
"Our study suggests that exercising your
brain by taking part in activities such as these across a person's lifetime,
from childhood through old age, is important for brain health in old age,"
study author Robert. S. Wilson of the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago
said in a statement. "Based on this, we shouldn't underestimate the
effects of everyday activities, such as reading and writing, on our children,
ourselves and our parents or grandparents."
And it might even stave off Alzheimer's
disease.
According to research published in the
journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2001, adults who
engage in hobbies that involve the brain, like reading or puzzles, are less
likely to have Alzheimer's disease, USA Today reported at the time. However, the researchers
identified only an association, not a cause-and-effect relationship:
"These findings may be because inactivity is a risk factor for the disease
or because inactivity is a reflection of very early subclinical effects of the
disease, or both," they wrote in the study.
"The brain is an organ just like every
other organ in the body. It ages in regard to how it is used," lead author
Dr. Robert P. Friedland told USA Today. "Just as physical activity
strengthens the heart, muscles and bones, intellectual activity strengthens the
brain against disease."
Reading may help you sleep better.
Many sleep experts recommend establishing a
regular de-stressing routine before bed to calm your mind and cue your body up
for shut-eye -- and reading can be a great way to do so (as long as the book
isn't a page-turner that'll keep you up all night). Bright lights, including
those from electronic devices, signal to the brain that it's time to wake up,
meaning reading your book under a dim light is a better bedside bet than a
laptop.
Getting lost in a good book could also make
you more empathetic.
According to a study published in the
journal PLOS ONE,
losing yourself in a work of fiction might actually increase your empathy.
Researchers in the Netherlands designed two experiments that showed that people
who were "emotionally transported" by a work of fiction experienced
boosts in empathy.
"In two experimental studies, we were
able to show that self-reported empathic skills significantly changed over the
course of one week for readers of a fictional story by fiction authors Arthur
Conan Doyle or José Saramago," they wrote in the findings. "More specifically,
highly transported readers of Doyle became more empathic, while non-transported
readers of both Doyle and Saramago became less empathic."
So go ahead, let yourself get caught up in a
particularly compelling story, or swept away by a powerful character -- it's
good for you!
Self-help books, on the other hand, can ease
depression.
Self-help books may really help you help
yourself. A study published in the journal PLOS ONE showed
that reading self-help books (also called "bibliotherapy"), combined with support
sessions on how to use them, was linked with lower levels of depression after a
year compared to patients who received typical treatments. "We found this
had a really significant clinical impact and the findings are very
encouraging," study author Christopher Williams of the University of
Glasgow told the BBC. "Depression saps
people's motivation and makes it hard to believe change is possible."
Self-help books may even work in cases of
severe depression. According to a University of Manchester meta-analysis published in 2013, people with severe
depression can benefit from "low-intensity interventions," including
self-help books and interactive websites, as much or more than those who are
less severely depressed.
The
Huffington Post | By Laura Schocker
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/08/05/health-benefits-reading_n_4081258.html?ncid=newsltushpmg00000003&ir=India&adsSiteOverride=in
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