UCLA Neuroscientist Rebecca Gotlieb Explains How Reading Rewires the Brain
In a video from BBC World Service, Rebecca Gotlieb, a neuroscientist at UCLA, argues that reading is not an inherent human skill due to the insufficient evolutionary timeframe for a specialized reading brain to develop. Instead, humans utilize areas associated with vision, language, auditory processing, attention, and emotions. This cognitive adaptation dates back to Sumerian cuneiform and Egyptian hieroglyphics, persisting into contemporary writing systems. Literacy has surged from roughly one percent in ancient eras to 88 percent today. Gotlieb cautions that reading on screens encourages skimming, heightening the risk of misinformation. In 2018, Maryanne Wolf highlighted in the Guardian that this skimming undermines critical thinking and empathy, adversely affecting children's educational outcomes and urging adults to foster a rich reading environment.
Key facts
- UCLA neuroscientist Rebecca Gotlieb says humans have not had enough time to develop a dedicated reading brain.
- Reading co-opts brain regions involved in vision, auditory processing, language, attention, and affect.
- Ancient Sumeria and Egypt had literacy rates around one percent, mostly scribes, priests, and nobles.
- The global literacy average today is about 88 percent and rising.
- Reading media have shifted from papyrus to paper to electronic screens.
- Gotlieb says screen reading leads to skimming and greater susceptibility to misinformation.
- Maryanne Wolf's 2018 Guardian article described a subtle atrophy of critical analysis and empathy caused by technology-encouraged skimming.
- Wolf says the more digital the early reading experience, the worse the academic outcome.
Entities
Artists
- Rebecca Gotlieb
- Maryanne Wolf
- Colin Marshall
Institutions
- UCLA
- BBC World Service
- Guardian
- Open Culture
Locations
- Sumeria
- Egypt
- Seoul
- South Korea