As I'm sure everyone can say, I was teased when I was younger. I didn't like to talk to people as much as I liked to read. In middle school, I always carried a novel with me. You'd see me with a nose in a book more often than in conversation. I had friends, but I was shy and reading was my favorite thing to do.
Books gave me company. There was always something to imagine and characters to make friends with. I grew up being read to by both parents. My imagination was vivid. I started writing stories in my head before I knew how to actually write anything on paper. My parents wrote down my early stories. I always wanted to be a writer.
Turns out being read to as a child probably has a lot to do with where I ended up today. I recently read and shared an article from The Huffington Post called "Science Proves Reading To Kids Really Does Change Their Brains." It makes a lot of sense, it's something I always expected. Interesting to know it can be scientifically proven, too. The article reports from a study, "The MRIs revealed that children from more stimulating home reading environments had greater activity in the parts of the brain that help with narrative comprehension and visual imagery."
Seems like bookworms don't end up so bad, after all. Anyone who reads knows that reading makes you produce images in your mind, but it goes a little further than that. Reading about something is similar to experiencing it. You can have many experiences just by sitting in a chair, holding a book. It broadens your outlook on life. Readers often become writers, and sometimes English majors in college.
All you English majors can be relieved, by the way--all that close reading and literary study wasn't fruitless. Another article, "Your Brain on Books: 10 Things that Happen to Our Mind When We Read," reveals, "Stanford University researchers have found that close literary reading in particular gives your brain a workout in multiple complex cognitive functions, while pleasure reading increases blood flow to different areas of the brain. They concluded that reading a novel closely for literary study and thinking about its value is an effective brain exercise, more effective than simple pleasure reading alone." Read some more amazing things that happen to our brains when reading.
The benefits don't stop there. According to an article published by ABC News, studies have shown that reading also helps prevent Alzheimer's and other debilitating illnesses. The study's main author, Dr. Robert Freidland, claims that "people who don't exercise their gray matter stand a chance of losing brain power." Patients with Alzheimer's were found to participate in less mentally challenging activities, and actually watched TV as one of their main hobbies. This might link watching television as a risk factor, which makes picking up a book instead of turning on the TV an important habit to instill in children early.
Performing mentally-stimulating activities is important for children and adults. By exercising your brain and taking part in these activities, such as reading or writing, your brain health improves. Reading as a child helps ensure brain health as an adult, so it's a good habit to start young and continue throughout your lifetime. There are many reasons for this. Researchers have found that by participating in mentally challenging activities, people actually protect their memory and thinking skills. You can read more about these intriguing findings here.
No matter if it's professional or for pleasure, reading is essential for brain function and childhood development. It stimulates the mind and challenges us to think in new ways, which helps ensure good brain health throughout our lifetime. It's a good thing for all future and present parents to make note of. I'm certainly thankful to my parents for instilling me with a love for literature early on.
