Reading is a most beneficial exercise for our brain and mind. Reading, like other learning activities, depends on the interconnectivity among cognition, emotion, memory, and physiology. As a complex skill during which, we use both hemispheres of the brain. At the same time, the Corpus Callosum, which is the tissue that connects the two hemispheres, is activated.
Thereby, it contributes to a better exchange of information between them. Research has shown that reading has many positive effects. The benefits of reading are manifold and actually, they are substantiated through scientific research.
1.Reduce stress and anxiety
According to a recent research from the University of Sussex "Getting lost" within the pages of a book leads to absolute relaxation and reading a book before bedtime is an activity that relaxes people and helps them deal with any stressful factors. Indeed, this method is considered very effective in treating anxiety .
2.It helps concentration
The regular reader of books acquires the ability to pay full attention to what he does and think practically, in an effective and objective way. It also develops the ability to make decisions and solve problems.
3. As Insomnia therapy
The habit of reading books before sleeping helps regulate the body clock and send the signal to the brain that it is time to sleep.
4. Dementia prevention
Researchers from the Mayo Clinic "in the US studied the daily habits of 200 people from 70 to 89 years with mild memory disorders, during different life stages. They found that middle-aged readers who devoted time to reading and other creative pursuits, such as handicrafts, faced 40% less risk of experiencing further memory impairment or Alzheimer's"
5. It helps treat stroke
Reading, according to experts, makes the brain able to withstand any harm -- even strokes-because it "obliges" readers to use alternative synapses, in other words, connections amongst brain neurons.
6. Prevent obesity
Experts from Duke's children's Hospital found that reading literary books can help obese kids slim down. "Scientists gave one novel titled "Lake Rescue" (saving the Lake) to obese girls aged 9-13 years old, who had already followed a slimming program, so as to read it.
The novel was chosen carefully by pediatricians specifically for this purpose. The book's heroine was an obese girl with a very strong personality. After reading the book, the girls adopted a healthy lifestyle and managed to lose weight and reduce body mass index (BMI) after 6 months". This is the first prospective interventional study that found literature can have a positive impact on healthy lifestyle changes in young girls.
7. Memory Improvement
When you read a book, you have to remember an assortment of characters, their backgrounds, ambitions, history, and nuances, as well as the various arcs and sub-plots that weave their way through every story. That's a fair bit to remember, but brains are marvellous things and can remember these things with relative ease. Amazingly enough, every new memory you create forges new synapses (brain pathways)and strengthens existing ones, which assists in short-term memory recall as well as stabilizing moods.
Reading has many physical and mental benefits. If you want to make a habit out of reading, you are not too late to get started. Whenever you start reading a book, make things easy. Always find the easies topics first. And start reading from there.
