A research team at Stanford is doing fMRI studies on “your brain on Jane Austen.” Are we neurodivergent when we read Austen?:
“Phillips said the global increase in blood flow during close reading suggests that “paying attention to literary texts requires the coordination of multiple complex cognitive functions.” Blood flow also increased during pleasure reading, but in different areas of the brain. Phillips suggested that each style of reading may create distinct patterns in the brain that are “far more complex than just work and play.”
I really enjoyed this article and even continued to do a little more research on it! How amazing that something, as english majors, we do quite often like close reading, creates so much activity in our brains. Its fascinating how even though we are all different, we read differently, speak differently, our brains create the same kind of patterns. One thing that stood out to me was:
“Phillips said, teaching close reading (i.e., attention to literary form) “could serve – quite literally – as a kind of cognitive training, teaching us to modulate our concentration and use new brain regions as we move flexibly between modes of focus.” ”
Close reading is basically like exercise for your brain. We all read and of course, that in itself is exercise, but you’re never thinking about that as you read your favorite book. Doing nay form of close reading might in turn help you with everyday since it’s training your brain in concentration. That simple “homework assignment” that we might find pointless, might prove more helpful than we think!