Robert Moore, PhD: King Warrior Magician Lover. Brainmapping.ORG. Our Relationship. Thandie Newton: Embracing otherness, embracing myself. Psychology Today blog (Maybe It's Just Me, But...) - Mark D. White. What Do Women Want? OpenBCI. A good book can change your life ... and your brain. Stories, whether fact or fiction, are at the heart of human culture. A strong narrative can resonate with your personality and experiences, and help set a framework for your future. "That book changed my life" is a cherished maxim. So can a book change your brain too? A recent study led by Emory University's Gregory Berns has demonstrated that reading a novel produces physical changes in the brain similar to those that would result from living as one or more of the characters. Neurobiological research using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has begun to identify brain networks associated with reading stories.
"You live several lives while reading. " Twenty-one undergraduate students volunteered as subjects in the experiment. The novel chosen was Robert Harris' Pompeii. While prior studies suggest that connection to a story told in the first person may be more captivating (everything else being equal), the researchers chose the book due to its page-turning plot. What Do Women Want? Free Will: Weighing Truth and Experience.