Reader's Digest - USA (2019-08)

Y

oucantakefishoilsup-

plementsoreatlotsof

turmeric.Youcaninvest

ina languageclass,puz-

zlebooksorafewhours

ofexerciseeveryweek.Thereare

countlessmethodsto(allegedly)

improveyourmemoryandcogni-

tivefunctioning– thebrain-train-

ingand-assessment industryis

expectedtoreachbillionsofdollars

by2022,accordingtoa majormarket

researchreport.Butthecheapest,

easiestandmosttime-testedwayto

sharpenyourbrainisrightinfront

ofyourface.It’scalledreading.

Thefactthatreadingisgoodfor

yourbrainisn’tsurprising– there’s

areason mothersarealwayson

theirkids’ casesto turn offthe

TVandpickupagoodbook.But

there’ssomethingastoundingabout

howsuchanordinaryactivitycan

improveyourbraininsomanyways.

Themostbasicimpactoccursin

theareaassociatedwithlanguage

reception,thelefttemporalcortex.

Processingwrittenmaterial– from

theletterstothewordstothesen-

tencestothestoriesthemselves–

snapstheneuronstoattentionas

theystarttheworkoftransmitting

allthatinformation.Thathappens

whenweprocessspokenlanguage,

too,buttheverynatureofreading

encouragesthebraintoworkhard-

erandbetter.“Typically,whenyou

read,youhavemoretimetothink,”

says Maryanne Wolf, director of the

UCLACenterforDyslexia,Diverse

LearnersandSocialJusticeinLos

Angeles.“Readinggivesyoua unique

pausebuttonforcomprehension

andinsight.Byandlarge,withoral

language– whenyouwatchafilm

orlistentoa tape– youdon’tpress

pau se.”

Andthebenefitsofreadingcon-

tinuelongafteryou’veputdownthat

greatbook.AsmallstudyatEmo-

ryUniversityfoundthatimproved

brainconnectivitypersistedforfive

days.“Wecallthata shadowactivity,

almostlikea musclememory,”says

neuroscientistGregoryBerns,lead

authorofthestudy.

OK,yousay,it’shardlysurprising

thatthelanguagepartofthebrain

wouldgeta workoutfromreading.

Butreadingalsoenergisestheregion

responsibleformotoractivity,the

centralsulcus.That’sbecausethe

brainisa veryexuberantplayactor.

Whenitisreadingabouta physical

activity,theneuronsthatcontrolthat

activitygetbusyaswell.

Youmaynotactuallybe f lying

through the sky when you’rereading

THE BENEFITS

CONTINUE LONG

AFTER YOU’VE

PUTDOWN

THAT BOOK

135

The Genius Section