According to new research presented this week, reading to toddlers provides a ‘meaningful’ and ‘measurable’ boost to their brain development.
Scientists previously claimed that reading to your little one promoted language development in the brain, but this is the first time that direct evidence has been presented.
Describing the pre-school years as ‘critical’ in a child’s life, study author Dr John Hutton said: “Reading exposure…prior to kindergarten seems to have a meaningful, measurable impact on how a child’s brain processes stories and may help predict reading success.”
“Of particular importance are brain areas supporting mental imagery, helping the child ‘see the story’ beyond the pictures, affirming the invaluable role of imagination,” he added.
As part of the study, Dr Hutton and his team studied 19 healthy children aged three to five years, and asked their parents questions about how often they read to their little ones as well as how they interacted and played together.
The children also underwent MRI scans to measure their brain activity while they listened to stories through headphones.
According to their results, children who read more often at home were advanced when it came extracting the meaning from language, which they described as critical for speech and reading.
