The Ultimate Brain Workout: Why Reading Fiction Isn’t a Waste of Time, According to Science

In a compelling TEDxCluj presentation, science writer and broadcaster Rita Carter challenges the longstanding perception that reading fiction represents merely an agreeable pastime or, at worst, an unproductive use of time. Drawing upon contemporary evidence from neuroscience and cognitive psychology, she posits that immersive reading constitutes a crucial cognitive exercise that profoundly enhances our social and emotional capacities. This article provides an in-depth examination of the key elements and empirical evidence supporting the transformative power of narrative fiction.

Become a Better Person

Carter introduces her argument by proposing that one freely accessible activity exists which could enhance imagination, improve memory function, strengthen interpersonal relationships, and cultivate prosocial behaviour. This activity is reading, though not the utilitarian reading required for professional or administrative purposes. Rather, she focuses specifically on fiction, the type of reading experience in which one becomes immersed within another individual’s consciousness, experiencing the character’s emotions, cognitions, and behaviours from their unique perspective.

She recounts an autobiographical anecdote concerning her mother, whose father once removed a novel from her hands, asserting: “If you have to read, at least read something useful.” Contemporary empirical evidence, however, suggests that fiction reading provides substantial benefits that extend beyond traditional educational outcomes.

Theory of Mind: Stepping Outside Yourself

The foundation of fiction’s cognitive benefits lies in its capacity to develop what researchers term ‘Theory of Mind’ (ToM). ToM represents the intuitive capacity to comprehend mental processes occurring within another person’s consciousness through observation of their movements and expressions. This faculty enables individuals to momentarily transcend their own subjective experience and perceive reality from alternative perspectives.

Individuals lacking this ability experience significant social impairments, particularly in forming and maintaining relationships. Furthermore, their imaginative capacities remain constrained, as the ability to adopt alternative perspectives constitutes an essential component of creative cognition.

The 2013 Kidd and Castano Experiments

Supporting the relationship between fiction reading and Theory of Mind, Carter referenced seminal experimental work conducted by psychologists David Kidd and Emanuele Castano. Their study design involved participants reading brief passages from various textual categories: nonfiction explanatory texts, plot-focused thrillers that emphasised events rather than character interiority, and perspective-driven fiction that foregrounded character consciousness and subjective experience.

Following the reading task, participants viewed photographs depicting individuals with pronounced facial expressions and were required to infer their mental states. This assessment represents a standard measure of Theory of Mind capacity. The findings demonstrated that participants who engaged with perspective-driven fiction showed enhanced performance on Theory of Mind assessments compared with those who read nonfiction or plot-focused narratives.

Real-World Impact: The Reading Group

Carter offered a compelling real-world illustration by describing her observations of a reading group comprising individuals managing various mental health challenges, including severe depression and anxiety. During discussion of the classic novel Wuthering Heights, participants demonstrated sophisticated empathetic reasoning and complex perspective-taking abilities. They actively debated the protagonist Kathy’s decision to marry Linton rather than Heathcliff, considering factors including social aspiration, perceived danger, sexual attraction, and, significantly, adopting Linton’s perspective as someone whose wife remained emotionally attached to another individual.

The speaker observed that engagement with fiction had demonstrably transformed participants’ lives, with one documented case suggesting such reading had been instrumental in preventing suicide. These observations underscore the profound real-world implications of fictional narrative engagement for psychological wellbeing and social functioning.

The Brain Workout: Rewiring Neural Architecture

To elucidate why fiction exerts such substantial neurological effects, Carter explains fundamental differences in how the brain processes speech versus written text.

Speech is Natural

Speaking pathways are genetically encoded, having evolved over approximately 100,000 years through natural selection. An infant exposed to spoken language will naturally acquire speech capacity without explicit instruction.

Reading is Learned

Reading represents a relatively recent cultural innovation, emerging approximately 5,000 years ago, with widespread literacy developing only within the past century. Because reading capacity is not pre-wired in the human genome, each individual who learns to read must construct novel neural pathways, analogous to how the brain establishes new memory traces following any learning experience.

When processing abstract symbols, the brain performs substantially more extensive computational work than during speech production or comprehension. Reading creates elaborate neural networks, establishing connections across multiple brain regions that remain relatively inactive during basic cognitive processes. This renders reading a more holistic neurological experience, engaging brain areas typically underutilised in routine activities.

Contemporary neuroscientific research has demonstrated that learning to read literally reshapes brain structure. Functional magnetic resonance imaging studies reveal that literate individuals exhibit distinct patterns of neural connectivity compared with pre-literate individuals, particularly in regions associated with visual processing, language comprehension, and semantic integration.

Experiencing the Narrative: Simulation and Empathy

A critical neurological finding supporting the benefits of fiction reading is that the brain does not merely process narrative information cognitively; rather, it simulates the described experiences at a neurological level. When readers encounter passages describing physical actions or emotional states, the same neural regions that would activate during actual performance of those actions or experiencing those emotions become engaged.

For instance, reading descriptions involving pain or anger activates corresponding sensory and emotional brain regions, occasionally with sufficient intensity that readers report phenomenological experiences of these sensations. Neuroimaging research has demonstrated remarkable similarity between brain activation patterns during actual movement and reading about movement, differing primarily in intensity rather than location.

This phenomenon reflects what cognitive neuroscientists term ’embodied simulation’ or ’embodied cognition’, whereby mental representations of actions, emotions, and sensory experiences are grounded in the same neural substrates that support their actual execution or experience. The mirror neuron system, particularly within the premotor cortex, plays a crucial role in this process, enabling readers to simulate characters’ experiences through activation of their own sensorimotor systems.

The important implication is that readers are not merely acquiring propositional knowledge about characters’ mental states; they are, to a measurable extent, experiencing those states themselves through neural simulation. This process facilitates deep empathetic engagement and may explain why fiction reading shows stronger associations with empathy development compared with other forms of reading.

New Evidence: The Emory University Study

Carter highlighted groundbreaking research conducted at Emory University that investigated whether the temporary enhancement in social-emotional sensitivity following fiction reading could be detected as physical changes in brain structure and connectivity.

The experimental protocol involved undergraduate participants reading approximately 30 pages nightly for five consecutive nights from a particularly engaging, character-driven novel, Pompeii by Robert Harris. Functional magnetic resonance imaging scans were acquired before the reading period to establish baseline neural connectivity patterns, followed by morning scans on each subsequent day following the nightly reading assignments.

The neuroimaging results revealed that neural connectivity throughout multiple brain regions, extending beyond traditional language processing areas, exhibited increased density and strength as the reading programme progressed. These structural and functional changes in brain architecture resembled patterns typically observed following actual lived experiences rather than mere cognitive processing. The experience of engaging with fictional narrative had become physically integrated into the participants’ neural architecture.

Lead researcher Gregory Berns noted that even though participants were not actively reading during scanning procedures, they retained heightened connectivity patterns, described as resembling ‘muscle memory’. The neural changes particularly affected the central sulcus region, associated with sensory and motor representation, suggesting that reading narrative fiction enables readers to mentally inhabit protagonists’ embodied experiences. This provides neurobiological support for the longstanding literary concept of readers ‘stepping into characters’ shoes’.

Additional Research: Convergent Evidence from Multiple Disciplines

Beyond the studies cited by Carter, substantial additional research supports the cognitive and social benefits of fiction reading. Neuroimaging investigations utilising functional magnetic resonance imaging have identified complex neural networks activated during narrative comprehension, encompassing regions associated with language processing, episodic memory, social cognition, and emotional regulation.

Empathy and Emotional Transportation

Research on emotional transportation theory has demonstrated that when readers become deeply immersed in fictional narratives, they experience measurable increases in empathetic concern. This effect appears mediated by the degree of emotional engagement with the narrative, with highly transported readers showing greater empathy enhancement compared with less engaged readers. Importantly, these effects appear to be causal rather than merely correlational, addressing earlier questions about whether empathetic individuals simply prefer fiction or whether fiction reading actually cultivates empathy.

Long-term Effects on Social Cognition

Longitudinal research examining lifetime fiction reading habits has revealed positive associations with social cognitive abilities, even after controlling for demographic factors, personality traits, and general intelligence. Habitual fiction readers demonstrate superior performance on tasks requiring perspective-taking, emotion recognition, and understanding of social norms and conventions. These effects appear specific to literary fiction rather than genre fiction, possibly reflecting differences in narrative complexity and character development between these categories.

Neural Substrates of Reading and Social Cognition

Contemporary neuroscientific evidence indicates that reading and social cognition recruit overlapping neural networks, particularly components of the default mode network. This system supports our capacity to simulate hypothetical scenarios, imagine alternative perspectives, and represent others’ mental states. Fiction reading appears to exercise these neural circuits, potentially explaining its effects on social-emotional functioning.

Educational and Developmental Implications

Research with children and adolescents has demonstrated that early exposure to high-quality fiction predicts superior academic achievement, enhanced verbal abilities, and better social adjustment. Parent-child shared reading, particularly when involving discussion of characters’ mental states and motivations, appears especially beneficial for developing Theory of Mind capacities during childhood.

Clinical Applications

Shared reading programmes have shown promise as interventions for various clinical populations, including individuals experiencing depression, anxiety, and social isolation. Bibliotherapy approaches utilising fiction have demonstrated measurable benefits for psychological wellbeing, suggesting potential applications in mental health treatment contexts.

Conclusion: A Necessity for the Individual and Society

In summary, the brain requires cognitive exercise analogous to muscular exercise, and reading fiction represents one of the most effective forms of mental workout available. By compelling readers to adopt alternative perspectives, to sympathise with diverse characters, and to empathise with their experiences, fiction reading enhances individual cognitive and social-emotional capacities whilst simultaneously contributing to the development of a more empathetic society.

The scientific evidence presented demonstrates that fiction reading is far from a frivolous activity. Rather, it represents a sophisticated cognitive process that reshapes neural architecture, enhances social cognition, and cultivates the empathetic capacities essential for navigating our complex social world. These findings have profound implications for education, mental health treatment, and our understanding of how narrative shapes human consciousness and society.

References

Bal, P. M., & Veltkamp, M. (2013). How does fiction reading influence empathy? An experimental investigation on the role of emotional transportation. PLOS ONE, 8(1), e55341. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0055341

Berns, G. S., Blaine, K., Prietula, M. J., & Pye, B. E. (2013). Short- and long-term effects of a novel on connectivity in the brain. Brain Connectivity, 3(6), 590-597. https://doi.org/10.1089/brain.2013.0166

Carter, R. (2018, June 27). Why reading matters [Video]. TED Conferences. https://www.ted.com/talks/rita_carter_why_reading_matters

Djikic, M., Oatley, K., & Moldoveanu, M. C. (2013). Reading other minds: Effects of literature on empathy. Scientific Study of Literature, 3(1), 28-47. https://doi.org/10.1075/ssol.3.1.06dji

Fong, K., Mullin, J. B., & Mar, R. A. (2013). What you read matters: The role of fiction genre in predicting interpersonal sensitivity. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 7(4), 370-376. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0034084

Gallese, V. (2007). Before and below ‘theory of mind’: Embodied simulation and the neural correlates of social cognition. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 362(1480), 659-669. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2006.2002

Gallese, V., & Lakoff, G. (2005). The brain’s concepts: The role of the sensory-motor system in conceptual knowledge and reasoning. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 22(3/4), 455-479. https://doi.org/10.1080/02643290442000310

Harris, R. (2003). Pompeii. Random House.

Kidd, D. C., & Castano, E. (2013). Reading literary fiction improves theory of mind. Science, 342(6156), 377-380. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1239918

Kidd, D. C., & Castano, E. (2019). Reading literary fiction and theory of mind: Three preregistered replications and extensions of Kidd and Castano (2013). Social Psychological and Personality Science, 10(4), 522-531. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550618775410

Kidd, D. C., Ongis, M., & Castano, E. (2016). On literary fiction and its effects on theory of mind. Scientific Study of Literature, 6(1), 42-58. https://doi.org/10.1075/ssol.6.1.04kid

Mar, R. A., Oatley, K., Hirsh, J., dela Paz, J., & Peterson, J. B. (2006). Bookworms versus nerds: Exposure to fiction versus non-fiction, divergent associations with social ability, and the simulation of fictional social worlds. Journal of Research in Personality, 40(5), 694-712. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2005.08.002

Mar, R. A., Oatley, K., & Peterson, J. B. (2009). Exploring the link between reading fiction and empathy: Ruling out individual differences and examining outcomes. Communications, 34(4), 407-428. https://doi.org/10.1515/COMM.2009.025

Oatley, K. (2016). Fiction: Simulation of social worlds. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 20(8), 618-628. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2016.06.002

Samur, D., Tops, M., & Koole, S. L. (2018). Does a single session of reading literary fiction prime enhanced mentalising performance? Four replication experiments of Kidd and Castano (2013). Cognition and Emotion, 32(1), 130-144. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2017.1279591

Van Kuijk, I., Verkoeijen, P., Dijkstra, K., & Zwaan, R. A. (2018). The effect of reading a short passage of literary fiction on theory of mind: A replication of Kidd and Castano (2013). Collabra: Psychology, 4(1), Article 7. https://doi.org/10.1525/collabra.117

Wehbe, L., Murphy, B., Talukdar, P., Fyshe, A., Ramdas, A., & Mitchell, T. (2014). Simultaneously uncovering the patterns of brain regions involved in different story reading subprocesses. PLOS ONE, 9(11), e112575. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0112575