Rewiring the Brain With Reading and Writing

Brain fitness, mental fitness, or mental exercise all mean the same thing and are just as important as physical health. It involves keeping the brain in a healthy state by performing stimulating tasks that help the brain to be more alert and boost a declining memory. Mental exercise builds and remodels neural network connectivity for people of all ages. Incorporating mental exercises into one’s life can help reap the benefits of a sharper mind and a healthier body for years to come. It’s not surprising, that in general, people who possess a higher level of mental agility are also physically healthy and have a better health span (the period in a life marked by an optimally healthy life and free from serious or chronic illness).  

Brain fitness, mental fitness, or mental exercise all mean the same thing and are just as important as physical health. It involves keeping the brain in a healthy state by performing stimulating tasks that help the brain to be more alert and boost a declining memory. Mental exercise builds and remodels neural network connectivity for people of all ages. Incorporating mental exercises into one’s life can help reap the benefits of a sharper mind and a healthier body for years to come. It’s not surprising, that in general, people who possess a higher level of mental agility are also physically healthy and have a better health span (the period in a life marked by an optimally healthy life and free from serious or chronic illness).

Research findings indicate that humans build/rebuild brain cells throughout life. Several brain regions that are involved in memory, reflection, decision making, planning, and emotional control have neural stem cells that can mature into functioning neural cells. A stimulating learning environment maintains, builds, and remodels neural network connectivity and triggers the production of nerve growth factors that stimulate new neural connections. The brain actively grows and rewires itself in response to stimulation and learning. Several studies report that our brain grows stronger from use and from being challenged in the same way that muscles grow stronger from exercise. This phenomenon termed “Neuroplasticity” refers to the brain’s capacity to rewire itself through experience. The brain is constantly changing and rewiring itself in response to new learning. Neuroplasticity is the reason why patients can relearn skills after brain damage.

One of the tasks that trigger neuroplasticity is reading and writing. Research studies indicate that reading and writing delay the progress of Alzheimer’s disease. Reading and writing stimulate the rewiring of the neural connections even in the adult brain. In a study involving thirty illiterate people (subjects who did not know to read, spell, or write and had not attended school) with an average age of 31, twenty-one people were taught to read and write a special script for six months. A control group of nine people was not taught anything. Subjects were assessed for actual letter knowledge and word-reading skills and underwent MRI scanning before and after the six-months. By the end of the study, the team saw significant changes in the brains of the people who had learned to read and write. These individuals showed an increase in brain activity in the cerebral cortex that is involved in learning. In addition, reading and writing changed the architecture of the thalamus, brainstem, and occipital lobe (visual cortex) that control attention, movement, and vision, respectively. Dramatic changes were seen in those people who performed extremely well in their letter knowledge and word-reading ability. The results suggested that reading and writing, which involve important cognitive processes of construction, derivation, and decoding of words, trigger the development of fine sensorimotor skills, namely the control of eye movements that helps to capture the most informative parts of the text.

Other investigators reported similar conclusions about the benefits to the brain from reading and writing. One important observation from all these studies was the intense neuronal activity in the central sulcus, associated with sensations and movement. What this meant was that the subjects had put themselves in the protagonist’s shoes. It was as though they were acting out the book’s central character’s role. These combined activities helped in consolidating the brain changes that lasted even after the subjects had finished reading. While it is incorrect to assume that the study results apply to only illiterate folks, researchers are of the opinion that reading and writing can be a stimulating activity for anyone (illiterate or literate) and for all ages to rewire and strengthen the neural networks. These cognitive activities have a long-lasting beneficial effect on the structure and function of the brain, and the benefits are there for everyone to experience.