Sometimes there’s nothing better than curling up in your favorite chair with a paperback. but if you want to multitask and read at the same time, audiobooks may be more helpful. you can’t exactly drive or deep clean the bathroom with a book in your hands. But as audiobooks have become more and more popular, the question arises if you’re really getting the same benefits as traditional reading. Sure, you can join the book club, but does listening to a book require the same brain power? When it comes to the reading versus listening debate, neuroscientist and biohack your brain ($20) author Kristen Willeumier, Phd. has some thoughts.
the brain benefits that reading and listening have in common
Most people know that reading is good for brain health, but many people don’t know why. “Reading is a cognitively engaging task that requires high-level cognitive processing that integrates written information and language comprehension,” says Dr. willumier says. she explains that reading, and then processing what you’re reading, activates different parts of the brain. she says this includes the frontal lobes (involved in cognitive processing, attention, reasoning, reading fluency, and language comprehension), the temporal lobes (memory), the parietal lobes (language processing), the occipitals (visual processing of words on the page), and cerebellum (motor control related to visual processing, also known as moving the pupils across words).
You are reading: Reading vs listening to books
“Consistent reading practice strengthens your ability to communicate and will improve your vocabulary, reasoning, concentration and critical thinking skills while improving brain network connectivity. Reading has been shown to promote empathy, insight social and emotional intelligence, which are cognitive processes that lead to increased longevity,” says Dr. willeumer adds. For example, researchers at the Yale School of Public Health found that reading books had a 20% reduction in mortality in readers versus non-readers.
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While the study focused only on physical books and did not include audiobooks, here’s what Dr. Willeumier says that reading versus listening have something in common when it comes to brain function: In both situations, you’re processing information associated with understanding the story. Whether you’re reading or listening, your brain is working to connect the pieces of the puzzle, make sense of the plot, and try to predict what will happen next. but there are some differences in how this information is processed.
reading versus listening: how the brain benefits differ
“The brain is activated differently when processing speech versus print,” says dr. willumier says. she explains that understanding what you’re reading activates the left side of the brain (in areas associated with language processing), while understanding what you’re hearing activates both (for processing speech and acoustics).
“That said, the semantic processing of information occurs in the same cortical areas, whether the input is when reading a text or listening to an audiobook,” says dr. willeumer adds. “Both formats involve multiple brain networks, and while the inputs (visual and auditory) may activate the brain differently, the semantic processing occurs in the same cortical areas.”
He also says that listening to an audiobook can lead to greater empathy because you’re hearing the emotion in the narrator’s voice, not just reading it on the page. “Listening to an emotion-driven narrator engages emotional circuitry in the brain and can heighten the intensity and imagery of episodes, leading to deeper processing of the narrative and greater enjoyment of the material than reading a book” , she says.
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While listening to an audiobook may help more with empathy and bringing the story to life, she says reading is a better bet for retaining information. she points to a study showing that reading was better than listening at capturing someone’s attention and remembering information.
the end result
In conclusion, whether you prefer audiobooks or physical books, either way you’re doing something good for your brain. dr willeumier says that what matters most is how complex the plot is.
“Ultimately, whether you prefer to acquire information by listening to an audiobook or reading written text, it is the content of the information that requires high-level cognitive processing in the brain,” he says. that and choosing what you really enjoy: doing what makes you happy is also important.
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