Readers May Be Healthier, More Empathetic, And Even More Attractive, Science Says

Person readingWriting in his book How To Prevent Dementia, neurologist Richard Restak said that reading – especially reading fiction – might be “the single most effective activity” you can take up to build up your “cognitive reserve”. The bigger this reserve is, the longer your mind may hold out against cognitive decline. “A lifetime investment in building up cognitive reserve leads to healthy cognition and thinking later in life,” Restak wrote. A separate study found that those who read twice a week or more seemed to have a lower risk of developing dementia in older age, too.But that’s just one benefit of reading. Other studies have found benefits to our physical and mental health, empathy, and even perceived attractiveness, too.What are the benefits of reading?A 2024 article published in Frontiers in Paediatrics cited research which found that readers lived nearly two years longer than non-readers, and that, “Adults who read for more than 3.5 hours a week were 20% less likely to die over the 12-year study follow-up than those who didn’t read books”. Then, there were the mental health benefits.Those who read for about 12 hours a week as kids might have improved brain structures, a 2023 paper found, improving cognitive skills and mental health. These advantages seem to continue into adulthood.Empathy, which is believed to be beneficial for mental health, is likely also improved by the hobby, a 2013 paper suggested.There is a catch, though. Only books which “emotionally transport” readers into their fictional worlds seemed to improve readers’ scores, while those which failed to do so actually decreased empathy (at least temporarily). More reason than ever to pick books you like, I suppose...Can reading make you more attractive? As if those pros weren’t enough, there’s some reason to believe that people might fancy readers more than non-readers (that might explain Callum Turner and Dua Lipa’s viral meet-cute).According to dating site eHarmony, men who listed reading as a hobby were 19% more likely to get a message on the platform than those who didn’t.For women, it was a more meagre (but still notable) 3% rise.Related...Reading Is Cool Again – But Why Now?This Much Reading May Reduce Dementia RiskI Kicked My Screen Addiction And Fell Back In Love With Reading – Here's How

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