Children

Reading to children from an early age: this is how it activates their brain.

Reading aloud to children, from an early age, is a habit recommended by pediatricians and child psychologists.

Many studies demonstrate the positive effects of reading aloud for pre-school children, i.e. before the age of 6.

First of all , it facilitates the development of language : children accustomed to reading know a greater number of words and use syntax, i.e. the way in which the various elements of speech are combined more correctly.

It also creates curiosity about books and helps create spaces of complicity and relationship between parents and children.

What happens in their brains when reading to children?

To date, the benefits of reading for children have been (very well) documented through behavioral studies, ie those studies that evaluate the visible change at the level of behavior, such as assessing the increase in words known by the child.

The recent study by Hutton and colleagues (2019) demonstrates for the first time that the positive effects of reading are also visible at the brain level:  children between the ages of three and 5 who are regularly read books show greater activation in some areas of the brain. In particular, precisely those areas that are involved in mental imagination and the elaboration of meanings.

These areas are crucial for the development of language and are the same ones that are integrated into the neuronal circuits responsible for reading at school age. Some studies have also shown that these areas tend to be underactivated in people with reading disorders.

Why is it useful to read to children from the first months of life?

The first years of life are crucial for the development of language (and many other cognitive and emotional skills). Technically we speak of critical period, a term that indicates in a broad sense the period of development of the nervous system in which the effect of the experience on the brain is particularly strong. During critical periods the brain is literally shaped by experiences and the lack or poverty of stimuli can have effects that are difficult to reverse.

The most recent studies on how experience can modify the structure and functioning of the brain suggest that even after the critical period, neuronal plasticity continues to operate, albeit with less efficiency and strength.

This is why it is so important that the first years are full of stimuli.

Read and tell

The reading habit also fosters other complex skills such as memory and storytelling.

The latter, the ability to construct narratives in particular, is considered one of the best predictors of school performance, especially for those children considered at risk of school failure. In practice, the more children in the years before starting school can tell stories, the more likely it is that they do well in school.

Indeed, the ability to narrate requires sophisticated cognitive skills from children. First of all, the ability to produce linked sentences that contribute to building a coherent and meaningful whole is required. Furthermore, the ability to narrate requires knowing how to manage spatial and temporal dislocation (abstract thinking), since events that are not present in the here and now are described. In this regard, we speak of decontextualized language, considered crucial in school learning.

Dr Kathryn Barlow

Kathryn Barlow is an OB/GYN doctor, which is the medical specialty that deals with the care of women's reproductive health, including pregnancy and childbirth.

Obstetricians provide care to women during pregnancy, labor, and delivery, while gynecologists focus on the health of the female reproductive system, including the ovaries, uterus, vagina, and breasts. OB/GYN doctors are trained to provide medical and surgical care for a wide range of conditions related to women's reproductive health.

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