Every book lover will tell how reading gives life to your brain. There is a lot of truth in that illustration — your brain literally becomes very active when you are reading. There is scientific evidence to back this up.
Several things happen when we read – we improve our memory and empathy, also, research has revealed that reading makes us more positive about life and feel better about ourselves.
There is scientific evidence that has shown that reading has several health benefits, including stress relief, a great remedy for depression.
Reading has also been associated with reducing the chances of Alzheimer’s in old age.
If you are not a big fan of reading then you might be missing out on an opportunity to enjoy some of its benefits. Here are some of the scientific Benefits of reading.
You Become More Intelligent
Reading opens up a world filled with knowledge— whether you are reading an e-book or a paperback, or even a journal on the internet.
Starting your child out on reading will give them a chance to become very smart and top of their class.
Children’s books give kids up to 50 percent more exposure to words than watching cartoons on the TV.
Reading exposes you to new vocabulary, which in turn makes you more intelligent.
It Makes You More Empathetic
There is scientific evidence that reading brings other people’s feelings closer to you, it makes you relate better to other people.
Reading fiction allows you to understand how people think and behave under certain circumstances.
You get to read other people’s emotions.
Research has shown that this effect of reading is more pronounced in those who read fiction as opposed to those who read only non-fiction.
David Comer Kidd and Emanuele Castano put in simpler terms in one of their research findings —“Understanding others’ mental states is a crucial skill that enables the complex social relationships that characterize human societies,”
It Increases Your Brain Power
Reading frequently can help you to boost your brain power and make you smarter.
It’s pretty much like jugging regularly or engaging in cardio in order to boost the performance of your cardiovascular system.
Reading frequent helps to improve your memory function, and ultimately slow down the loss of memory that is associated with old age.
It Can Help You To Relax
For those who are not avid readers, the idea that reading can be used as a form of relaxation sounds very strange — they probably think that it is something for everyone extremely smart people.
When you are at home and you do not want to turn on the TV, you could pick up a book (accompanied by a glass of wine).
Research suggests that reading can actually make a great stress reliever.
“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,” cognitive neuropsychologist David Lewis — The Telegraph.