If you’ve ever wondered whether audiobooks are as good for your brain as traditional reading, you’re not alone.
New studies have revealed both benefits and downsides to listening compared with reading. Neuroscientists who took part in those studies reached the following conclusions:
- People are increasingly choosing audiobooks instead of paper books.
- The data show that reading and listening activate the same brain regions.
- However, reading develops cognitive skills in ways that listening to an audiobook does not.
Where Have All the Readers Gone?
When was the last time you read a book? If you’re like most Americans, the honest answer is: a long time ago. A new survey by NPR and research firm Ipsos of more than 2,000 adults found that only 51 percent had read a book in the past month. And 49 percent said reading isn’t a priority for them. Lack of time was the most common reason, writes Psychology Today.
Audiobooks are increasingly filling that gap. According to the survey, one in six listened to an audiobook in the past month. But can listening to a book replace reading?
What Neuroscientists Found
In several studies at the University of California, Berkeley, neuroscientists analyzed functional MRI data from volunteers who listened to and read the same stories. They found that semantic processing in the brain (how we extract meaning from words) is virtually the same whether you read a book or listen to it.
They emphasized that the same brain areas process information regardless of whether you read or listen, but Robert Sternberg, a psychologist at Cornell University, said other factors matter.
“Reading books is an activity that, over time, builds cognitive skills; it’s not obvious that listening to books has the same effect,” said Robert Sternberg.
A meta-analysis of 46 studies by researchers at the University of North Dakota illustrated Sternberg’s point. The authors found that when participants couldn’t control playback speed, they understood the text less well and were less able to draw inferences than people who read.
The researchers suggested that readers have an advantage because they can slow their pace, reread a difficult paragraph, or pause to reflect, while listeners must keep up with the narrator’s speed.
Sternberg explained that reading pace, rereading, and the visual cues that written words provide are important parts of comprehension. By contrast, when you listen to an audiobook you might have no idea what an unfamiliar word looks like or how it is spelled. And it’s harder to go back and reread a passage that felt important.
Researchers have repeatedly reported that multitasking makes listening less effective. People often listen to audiobooks while driving, exercising, cooking, or doing other tasks.
So Which Is Better — Listening or Reading?
The study data helped clarify when it’s better to listen to books and when it’s better to read them.
Advantages of audiobooks:
- Listening to audiobooks can be enjoyable.
- You can listen while traveling or working out (though you’ll likely absorb less information).
- They let you “read” books you wouldn’t otherwise get to.
Advantages of paper books:
- Paper books can be more enjoyable for some readers.
- You can keep physical books and return to them again and again.
- You can read at a slower pace and reread specific passages.
“Audiobooks require some cognitive effort, and they shouldn’t replace reading,” Sternberg emphasized.
So the main takeaway is this: reading and listening use the same brain regions to process information, but reading appears to contribute more to cognitive development than listening.
Photo: pexels.com, Unsplash
