'Reading a book' photo (c) 2007, Karoly Czifra - license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

A new study reinforces previous ones that have found the cognitive and emotional impacts reading can have on us — besides just the literacy and content knowledge we gain. You can read about those previous studies at The Best Resources On “Becoming What We Read.”

This new study showed — through brain scans — how reading makes our brain feel like we are part of the story:

‘The neural changes that we found, associated with physical sensation and movement systems, suggest that reading a novel can transport you into the body of the protagonist, ’Professor Berns said.

Here are links where you can read more about the study:

How a book really can change your life: Brain function improves for DAYS after reading a novel is form The Daily Mail.

A novel look at how stories may change the brain is from Eureka Alert.

Reading Changes Brain’s Connectivity, Study Suggests is from The Huffington Post.

Reading a Novel Alters Your Brain Connectivity — So What? offers a different perspective on the research.