Did you know that reading aloud to your child causes changes in brain activity?
Did you know that even if your child knows how to read for themselves, there are still benefits to reading aloud to independent readers?
If you only have time to choose one activity to prioritize with your child, choose reading together. Reading aloud to your children is a low cost and high impact activity across all ages and stages.
“Reading every day with children can’t guarantee perfect outcomes for any family—not in grades, not in happiness, not in relationships. But it is as close to a miracle product as we can buy, and it doesn’t cost a nickel. “–Meghan Cox Gurdon, The Enchanted Hour: The Miraculous Power of Reading Aloud in the Age of Distraction
Reading aloud to our children costs time and attention but no money. While our time as parents is certainly valuable, it is well spent given the neurochemical benefits available in this activity. We don’t even have to purchase anything. New books aren’t required–there are cognitive benefits from re-reading favorites. Local libraries or free little libraries provide numerous book choices at no cost to you.
Reading aloud is backed by neuroscience as an ideal activity for enhancing cognitive development. It supports communications between the brain of the speaker and brain of the listener and fosters bonding.
It isn’t just about building a bigger vocabulary–you are building up their brains.
Outline
- What happens inside the brain when you read aloud?
- Neural coupling/mirror neurons
- Oxytocin
- Try this today
- Takeaways
- References
1. What happens inside the brain when you read aloud?
There is communication occurring between brains when someone is telling a story and someone is listening. Underlying neural systems connect our brains with our child’s brains in incredible ways when we read aloud to them.
Brain science has documented incredible reactions to reading aloud, including the following:
- Brain mirroring of the reader and listener (two independent brains activated in the same areas)
- Release of important neurochemicals (brain chemicals)
When One Brain Mirrors Another
The alignment of brain processes between speaker and listener may be key in how brains receive information while reading aloud.
“The act of reading together secures people to one another, creating order and connection, as if we were quilt squares tacked together with threads made of stories. That’s not just another metaphor, as a team of neuroscientists at Princeton has discovered. Even as reader and listener are enjoying their bouquet of neurochemicals … their brain activity is synchronizing, creating literal order and connection in a process known as neural coupling.” ― Meghan Cox Gurdon, The Enchanted Hour: The Miraculous Power of Reading Aloud in the Age of Distraction
Neural coupling is an occurrence when the activity in one brain mirrors the activity in another brain.
In a 2010 study, researchers placed both a speaker and a listener pair in functional MRI (fMRI) machines. They watched to see which parts of the brain were activated during storytelling (Stephens, Silbert, & Hasson, 2010). Essentially, they wanted to see which sections of the brain would “light up” on the scans.
The speaker’s brain during storytelling was coupled with the listener’s brain–the same areas of the brain were lighting up in both brains while reading aloud occurred. The researchers described the coupling of the two brains as “widespread” and “extensive,” but its important to note that areas were lighting up that are typically associated with the mirror neuron system.
The mirror neuron system is made up of special brain cells that help us to act like those around us. Our mirror neurons are hard at work helping us to learn by observation and by action. They help us imitate behaviors for social communication and even help us to make guesses about intentions behind someone’s actions. Scientists believe that mirror neurons are an integral component of understanding what other people might be thinking or feeling–the foundation of empathy. Empathy is an important part of our brain’s response to narrative. Mirror neurons are a key part of empathizing with characters and their goals (Miall, 2009).
Another key part of our brain’s empathetic response to narrative is oxytocin (Zak, 2013).
What is oxytocin and what does it have to do with reading aloud?
Oxytocin is a chemical produced by the brain that is associated with bonding. Oxytocin is important for developing secure parent-child relationships, particularly in the early years. It is produced through contact and interaction with engaged parents (Scatliffe, Casavant, Vittner, & Cong, 2019)
Oxytocin promotes attachment. When we read aloud to our children, giving them focused contact and interaction, bonding occurs on multiple levels.
We bond not just emotionally but neurochemically.
In a recent study, researchers measured oxytocin levels and cortisol levels (a stress hormone) in children staying in a hospital. They compared a control group of children to a group of children who were read aloud stories during their hospital stay and found that just one storytelling session had significant impacts. The children had higher oxytocin levels, lower cortisol levels (less stress hormone), and reported less pain compared to the control group. The researchers concluded that reading aloud is a low cost intervention for improved well being (Brockington et al., 2021).
2. Try it today
Read one picture book aloud with your children today.
- Pick the time that is best for you. Our family enjoys read alouds during breakfast while kids are seated and eating. We also download free children’s audiobooks from our local library and listen in the car during errands and roadtrips. I turn to read alouds during the day when things get “crazy” and the children need a calming activity–I invite an overstimulated child into my lap for snuggles and a story. Reading aloud is also perfect for pre-nap or pre-bedtime routines to provide calm connection.
- Associate reading aloud with something positive. If you treat reading as a chore, your children will see it as a chore. Try reading aloud with a flashlight or lantern. Introduce a special snack or drink (popcorn, hot chocolate, apple cider, a fruit tray, cookies, etc.).
- Utilize resources like storytime at local libraries or bookstores or audiobooks to provide varied read aloud experiences. Ask grandparents, aunts and uncles, nannies, or other trusted adults to read aloud during their visits. For a screen free audiobook experience for young learners, Yoto players are a modern alternative to books on tape. Yoto players are specifically designed for children and ad-free.
3. Takeaways
There is communication occurring between brains when someone is telling a story and someone is listening. Underlying neural mechanisms connect our brains with our child’s brains in incredible ways when we read aloud to them.
Reading to your child is not going to break the bank but it is certainly going to stimulate positive changes in your child’s brain.
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4. References
- Meghan Cox Gurdon, The Enchanted Hour: The Miraculous Power of Reading Aloud in the Age of Distraction
- Stephens, Silbert, & Hasson (2010). Speaker-listener neural coupling underlies successful communication https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1008662107
- Skov, M., Vartanian, O., Martindale, C., & Berleant, A. (2009). Neuroaesthetics (1st ed.). Routledge. Ch. 11 by David S. Miall Neuroaesthetics of LIterary Reading (https://sites.duke.edu/flaubertsbrain/files/2012/09/Miall_Neuroaesthetics-of-Literary-Reading.pdf)
- Scatliffe, Casavant, Vittner, & Cong (2019). Oxytocin and early parent-infant interactions: a systematic review https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6838998/
- Brockington et al (2021). Storytelling increases oxytocin and positive emotions and decreases cortisol and pain in hospitalized children https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2018
