August 26, 2024, 9:00 AM
August 26, 2024, 9:00 AM
From novels to historical texts, poetry, short stories or research, reading transports us to new worlds, allows us to live other people’s lives, fantasies or put difficult-to-understand topics into perspective.
Whether through a paper volume or on a screen, reading is one of humanity’s greatest pleasures, a pleasure that, unlike others, cultivates us and allows us to better understand the world around us.
“It is important to promote reading because it has multiple benefits for human beings and society in general. It helps on a cognitive level, creates personal growth in terms of knowledge and awakens the imagination,” says Roly Lázaro, administrator and manager of the Franz Tamayo University Libraries, Unifranz.
Lázaro adds that encouraging the habit of reading is beneficial in at least four aspects ranging from expanding knowledge to developing the imagination.
“Reading helps us learn new things. It becomes a source of knowledge in different fields. Specialized books and literary documentary works are considered essential sources of information for education and academic training,” he says.
On the other hand, reading helps us to improve our own oral expression and communication. The acquisition of new knowledge greatly helps in the development of oral expression and allows us to expand our vocabulary.
“Reading is also a journey and exploration towards other realities. It allows the writer to create a feeling of empathy with the reader,” he says.
Ultimately, all the knowledge that reading provides leads to the development and application of the same in the work or academic environment, the expert points out.
Other benefits of reading are as follows:
● Helps keep our brain younger
● Increase memory
● Helps prevent diseases such as Alzheimer’s or dementia
● Reduce stress
● It makes us more empathetic
● Increase your vocabulary
● Helps you write better
● Open your mind to new worlds
● It makes you more creative
● You will always have topics of conversation
● It’s the best hobby
● It makes you more attractive
“For a far journey, there is no better vessel than a book,” said the famous American poet Emily Dickinson. Many literary writers echo this idea. A book becomes a gateway to the imagination.
For Mauricio Díaz Muñoz, a researcher at the Institute of Neurobiology at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), when we speak or write, different areas of our brain come into operation.
Reading activates a specific region of the brain, a phenomenon that causes the excitation of our neurons and the release of nutrients by various blood vessels. This biological process allows us to understand the words that our eyes are scanning.
“Reading is an activity in which the brain performs multiple actions simultaneously. Various areas of the brain must coordinate and communicate to enable each individual, when reading, to recognize signs or graphic elements, which are captured by our sight and subsequently interpreted, giving them context and meaning,” explains the researcher in the UNAM scientific journal.
Our brains face the challenge of interpreting a sequence of symbols as words. This process begins with the formation of concepts, which are organized into sentences and read in a specific order to make sense. Then, at a semantic level, we evaluate the coherence of the text. Finally, we reach the stage of comprehension, which gives emotional meaning to our reading.
“If we read that a refugee boat sank in the Mediterranean on its way to Europe, it moves us, because it symbolises a tragedy. We interpret this fact in our brain with an emotional component. Depending on what we read, we awaken different emotions in our body, which implies the activation of other brain components,” concludes the university specialist.
