“Reading” is one way to activate the brain. According to the research team of Dr. Ryuta Kawashima at Tohoku University’s Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer (IDAC), reading not only activates children’s brains, but it also strengthens its neural circuit (announced in 2016).
In this study, 296 healthy children aged 4 to 18 years were tested for cognitive functions such as reading habits and reading comprehension, and MRI scans were conducted to examine the structure of the brain’s neural circuit.
From the research findings, children who read a lot have a higher reading test scores, and even if the same test is performed on children three years later, they have a higher growth rate in reading ability test scores as well.
Furthermore, MRI analysis showed that children who were reading books had stronger nerve fiber network cohesion, and the same examination three years later showed a greater degree of neural circuit development.
In other words, children who read a lot of books have high reading skills and can develop the neural circuits of the brain related to language ability even further.
However, even if you want to develop your child’s brain, it may not be easy to make children who do not want to read books “want to read”. Instead, if you want your child to read, parents should read to their child or read together.