Books Really Do Transport You, Neuroscientist Finds.

A study done by the same Emory neuroscientist who figured out dogs have feelings and fear is the mind killer, has concluded that books really do transport you via your imagination.

He has subject read Pompeii, apparently some page turner about a resort town in days of the Roman Empire (what a snooze!)

Nevertheless, the book, which almost certainly has an uneventful end, created lots of activity in the left frontal lobe.

The thing is, that activity doesn’t go away just because you finished the book. The investment, the urge to put yourself in the place of the character, sticks around, like muscle memory.

Lots of headlines about this study claim it heightens brain function., but that’s a little like saying moving your arms heightens elbow function.  What they should say is that reading’s effect on the brain lingers long after you put the book down. Read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and you’ll crave calamari for days.