Skip to main content

Read for a Change





Today I was reading an article about how to prevent cognitive decay in your brain and increase your emotional intelligence. After all, who doesn’t want that? One of the best ways is by reading!  A Yale team of scientists asked: What is it about reading books that boost our brain power whereas reading newspapers and magazines doesn’t? Researchers believe that reading a book forces your brain to think critically and make connections to the book and the world around you.  Creating these connections forces new pathways in all regions of the brain.  Over time, with continued reading, these new networks assist in creating quicker thinking which may fight against cognitive decay as we age. 

However, what was more interesting to me is what the Yale researchers found about the benefits of increased empathy and emotional intelligence. The researchers found that readers who read a chapter of a fiction book showed increased empathy over those who only read a newspaper or magazine.  Developing empathy and emotional intelligence is important to us all.  The more emotional intelligence we have the more likely we are to have positive human interactions.  Building empathy leads to the desire to help others.  Being able to see events from another person’s perspective plays an important role in our society. Exercise your brain today, read.  It does everybody good.








Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Read to Them

One of the quotes that I often think about is Emily Buchwald’s “ Children are made readers on the laps of their parents.” Teaching reading is very difficult and reading to a child that has never been read to makes the job seem impossible.   Today it made me think about what made me a reader. As a child, my mother, who taught reading for years, read to my brothers and I  every Box Car Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner.   I do not remember the stories exactly but I remember loving the stories and cherishing our special time together.   Later in life, my father and I did a book study for religious education on the book Hinds Feet on High Places by Hannah Harnard.   Again, I do not remember much about the book but I remember the time we spent together and the close bond that I felt.    Today I decided to look at a review of Harnard’s book.   The review states that over 2 million copies were sold.   “It is a timeless story of Go...
1 comment
Read more

Alma

Today I read a charming children’s book written and illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal called Alma and How She Got Her Name. It is a 2019 Caldecott Honor Book.   It is a sweet story about how Alma doesn’t like her name because it is too long.   Her name, to be exact is Alma Sofia Esperanza José Pura Candela.   Six names!   Six very long names she tells her father.   As her father tells her the story behind each of her names she realizes that her name is perfect for her.   She learns that her special name will one day provide her with the opportunity to share her story with the world. This story made me think about how as a child I too did not like my name.   My name was different, there was never anyone else with my name and at times I wished for a more traditional name.   So tonight I decided to call my parents, both of whom are now in their 80’s and ask about my name.  I had heard stories about why the named me but honestly, I ne...
2 comments
Read more

Gloria

Hoy quiero escribir sobre Gloria Anzaldúa.   Un poeta, una feminista y un erudito. Hoy leí una cita de ella que nunca antes había notado escrita en una pared en mi trabajo. Esta noche encontré una poema que toca mi alma. Gloria escribió que el lenguaje es una frontera para todos. Una frontera que todos debemos cruzar para definir quiénes somos. Los libros salvaron mi cordura, el conocimiento me abrió lugares que había cerrado y me enseñó primero a sobrevivir y luego a cómo volar.
2 comments
Read more