The Optimal Amount of Reading for Better Brain Structure: Findings from UK and China Study

2023-07-05 10:34:12

Researchers from the UK and China found that 12 hours a week was the optimal amount of reading and that it is linked to better brain structure, which might help explain the results of the study published in the journal Psychological Medicine.

Unlike listening comprehension and spoken language, which develop quickly and easily in young children, reading is a skill that is taught and acquired through explicit learning over time, which might be an activity important and nice.

Childhood and adolescence is an important time to establish behaviors that favor our cognitive development and promote good brain health, since it is at this stage when our brain develops. However, until now it was not clear what impact encouraging children to read from an early age has on their later brain development, cognition and mental health.

To investigate it, the data of the cohort were analyzedAdolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD)of the United States, which recruited more than 10,000 young adolescents.

Clinical interviews, cognitive tests, mental and behavioral assessments, and brain scans were analysed, comparing young people who started reading for pleasure at an early age with those who started reading later or not at all. Many important factors, such as socioeconomic status, were taken into account in the analyses.

Slightly less than half of the 10,243 participants studied (48%) had little experience reading for pleasure or did not start reading until later in childhood. The other remaining half had spent between three and ten years reading for pleasure.

From these results, the team discovered a strong relationship between reading for pleasure at an early age and positive performance in adolescence, using cognitive tests that measured factors such as verbal learning, memory, and speech development.

In addition, these children also had better mental well-being, as assessed by a series of clinical scores and parent and teacher reports, and showed fewer signs of stress and depression, as well as better attention span and fewer behavioral problems, such as aggression and noncompliance. rules.

Similarly, these kids who started reading for pleasure also tended to spend less time in front of a TV or smartphone screen during the week and on weekends in their teens, and tended to sleep more.

The researchers, analyzing brain scans of the adolescent cohort, found that participants who had started reading for pleasure at an early age showed moderately larger total brain areas and volumes, including, in particular, brain regions that play critical roles in cognitive functions.

The differences were present in other brain regions that had previously been shown to be linked to improved mental health, behavior and attention. And it is that reading is not only a pleasant experience, since it is widely accepted that it inspires thought and creativity, increases empathy and reduces stress, in addition to improving your cognition, mental health and brain structure.

The optimal amount of reading for pleasure in childhood is regarding 12 hours a week, as has been found, and beyond this, there do not seem to be any additional benefits. In fact, there is a gradual decline in cognition, which the researchers say is due to spending more time sedentary and less in other activities that might be cognitively enriching, such as sports and social activities.

For this reason, the researchers encourage parents to do everything possible to awaken a love of reading in their children at an early age because, if done well, it will not only bring pleasure and fun, but also contribute to their development, fostering their long-term reading habit.

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