{"id":503516,"date":"2025-10-16T06:55:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T06:55:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/503516\/"},"modified":"2025-10-16T06:55:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T06:55:13","slug":"this-simple-daily-habit-could-keep-your-brain-young-for-decades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/503516\/","title":{"rendered":"This simple daily habit could keep your brain young for decades"},"content":{"rendered":"

Each year, October is the time when the Nobel Prize for Literature is announced<\/a>. It is indeed that time of the year when literature and reading take precedence. However, numerous global surveys show that fewer and fewer people are reading books today. Contrary to this, science seems to continue to show that reading is just not a pleasurable activity; rather, it is a form of cognitive exercise that can quite literally shape our brains.<\/p>\n

\u201cReading creates new pathways of information processing in your brain\u2026 Depending on the type of book you read, it has different kinds of effects,\u201d Gr\u00e9goire Borst, Full Professor of Developmental Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience of Education at Universit\u00e9 Paris Descartes, told France 24 English.<\/p>\n

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In his interview with the French broadcaster, Borst\u2019s insights show how even a mere 10 minutes of reading a day can sharpen our thinking, enhance memory, and even protect against cognitive decline.<\/p>\n

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Books build new neural pathways<\/p>\n

The professor revealed that reading books can lead to the building of new neural pathways. According to Borst, reading fiction trains our ability to understand other people\u2019s emotions and perspectives. This is what psychologists call the theory of mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s intriguing because reading is a solitary activity,\u201d he said, \u201cbut its benefits are social. Fiction helps us understand mental states, intentions, and feelings, which are critical for meaningful human interaction.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the other hand, reading non-fiction stimulates a different network of skills. \u201cWhen you read factual books, you expand your knowledge base and strengthen your critical thinking. The more you read, the better equipped you are to question information and analyse the world around you,\u201d Borst said.<\/p>\n

Whether one reads novels or biographies, according to the neuroscientist, the key is exposure. \u201cWhichever type you prefer, both bring benefits. And like most things in life, a mix of both is ideal.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Talking about reading, Borst said what makes it uniquely powerful is the mental stimulation it triggers. This is because, as we read, we build mental images of characters, scenes, and emotions.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou imagine interactions between characters and their intentions. This mental exercise mirrors what we do in real life when we try to empathise with others or take their perspective,\u201d noted Borst.<\/p>\n

He further explained that this visualisation process strengthens neural circuits related to imagination, empathy, and emotion regulation. In contrast, screen-based or purely factual information rarely activates as deeply in these areas.<\/p>\n

Can reading protect against dementia?<\/p>\n

Today, numerous reports claim the benefits of reading to protect against dementia. When asked about this, Borst agreed that there is some truth to these reports, but with nuance.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAny cognitively engaging activity helps lower the risk of dementia\u2026 Reading is especially good because it engages multiple cognitive resources at once \u2013 attention, memory, reasoning, and language,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Borst explained that reading strengthens working memory, the brain system that holds and manipulates information over short periods. \u201cWhen you read, you have to connect what you saw at the beginning of a page with what appears at the end. Doing these tasks across hundreds of pages trains your working memory,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd working memory is one of the strongest predictors of success \u2013 in school, at work, and throughout life.\u201d Perhaps the biggest takeaway here is that keeping your brain active matters far more than any single \u2018brain game\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe more cognitively engaged you are throughout your life, the healthier your brain will be as you age.\u201d<\/p>\n

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How much reading is enough?<\/p>\n

When attention span is on the decline, the biggest question is how much reading is enough? So, how often should one read to see the benefits? \u201cOne book is better than none,\u201d Borst quipped.<\/p>\n

However, he admitted that the frequency depends on age and skill level. \u201cFor children learning to read, repetition is key. The early stages of reading require a lot of practice before they feel effortless,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Adults, on the other hand, can benefit from even small, consistent habits. \u201cTen minutes of reading a day is already useful,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat matters is that it\u2019s cognitively demanding \u2013 something that challenges your focus and imagination, not just scrolling or texting.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it comes to children\u2019s development, along with reading, Borst also touched upon the importance of listening. The neuroscientist is of the opinion that listening to stories plays a crucial role in a child\u2019s development.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s not exactly the same as reading, but it\u2019s essential,\u201d he said, adding that exposure to spoken language helps in building vocabulary. And, according to Borst, this is a critical determinant of reading ability in later stages.<\/p>\n

According to Borst, in the brain, reading links visual information to language, and hence, the stronger a child\u2019s language foundation, the better they will become at reading. This is also why children\u2019s love for hearing the same story over and over again is not a bad habit. According to him, this is training their brains to anticipate, decode, and remember linguistic patterns.<\/p>\n

Book or smartphone?<\/p>\n

Another raging debate in today\u2019s time is the impact of screens such as smartphones, tablets, and even Kindles on reading comprehension. When asked if digital books are as good as paper ones, Borst responded, saying, \u201cNot quite.\u201d According to him, we are a little less efficient when reading on a screen.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just a matter of habit. Physical books provide spatial information \u2013 you know where you are in the story based on the weight and thickness of the pages.\u201d And this physicality helps with memory formation. \u201cParagraphs, page numbers, and even where text appears on a page all give cues to your brain,\u201d he said. \u201cThey act like mental landmarks that aid recall.\u201d He claims that scrolling or flicking through uniform screens removes that spatial anchor, making it harder to retain details.<\/p>\n

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While we are surrounded by all kinds of distractions, Professor Borst encourages us to reclaim reading as a ritual. \u201cWe already spend our days reading \u2013 text messages, signs, emails. But reading a book is different. It\u2019s deeper, more focused, and more demanding. Those ten quiet minutes a day are like a mental gym session \u2013 small, consistent, and transformative.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a nutshell, if you feel guilty about picking up a novel instead of your smartphone, just remember that your brain will be grateful. Reading not only expands our imagination, it strengthens the neural foundation of who we are, one page at a time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Each year, October is the time when the Nobel Prize for Literature is announced. It is indeed that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":503517,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3938],"tags":[23997,3444,165026,165033,77,165038,165027,165034,165029,165031,165024,165030,165025,165028,165023,165035,165032,165036,165037,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-503516","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-books","8":"tag-benefits-of-reading","9":"tag-books","10":"tag-cognitive-exercise","11":"tag-digital-vs-paper-books","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-gregoire-borst","14":"tag-how-reading-changes-your-brain","15":"tag-importance-of-reading-for-children","16":"tag-lower-dementia-risk-reading","17":"tag-neural-pathways-from-reading","18":"tag-neuroscientist-on-reading","19":"tag-reading-and-working-memory","20":"tag-reading-builds-empathy","21":"tag-reading-fiction-vs-non-fiction","22":"tag-reading-for-brain-health","23":"tag-reading-for-mental-health","24":"tag-reading-vs-scrolling","25":"tag-screen-time-and-reading-comprehension","26":"tag-theory-of-mind-reading","27":"tag-uk","28":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=503516"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503516\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/503517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=503516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=503516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=503516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}