Dubai-based Sharon Jacobs, a British-Indian homemaker, can’t help chuckling whenever her six-year-old daughter addresses a bewildered gathering at home with new words and assortment of phrases that she would have picked up from the latest book she has read. She recalls, “Last week, one of my relatives was narrating a story of family politics and fights, and my daughter suddenly pipes up, ‘I think you should bury the hatchet’. Mortified, I asked her, ‘Do you even know what a hatchet is?’” Of course, she didn’t; she had confused it with a rabbit’s hutch and thought that it just sounded like the right thing to say.
Yet despite the occasional misses, Jacobs is quite pleased with her daughter’s collection of phrases, gathered from all the books she has read. “I always feel very proud when teachers praise her writing skills; it reflects in her storytelling,” she says. As a result, she is more than happy to see her little one perched on a stool, reading for hours on weekends. It’s an escape into multiple worlds, and to quote the book The Namesake, that’s the thing about books: They let you travel without using your feet.
It’s a time capsule. It's comfort. It's a way to find community and a form of intellectual stimulation, as different UAE-based residents and psychologists explain.
‘A mode of time travel’
The joy of reading often lingers long past childhood. Most adults like Srinidhi Ravi, a UAE-based planetary scientist, treasures the way books transport her to different worlds. “It’s the closest thing to time travel,” she says, mentioning that she spent the summer re-reading Jane Austen’s novels and reliving the Regency era through her words.
I love reading, because it transports me to a different world. As someone who loves Jane Austen novels, reading is the closest thing to time travel in the Regency era...
For Soumiya Hussain, an Abu Dhabi-based IT analyst, it’s creative and imaginative fuel: She enjoys imagining life from the perspective of the main characters. She finds solace and emotional release in losing herself within the lives of fictional characters. Ravi and Hussain are active members of the Abu Dhabi Book Club, a non-profit Facebook group of bookworms that encourages regular book discussions, book-reading challenges and meetups. That’s what reading can do too: It creates a warm sense of community.
A sense of community
Jocelyn Hilton, a Dubai-based research analyst and American expat, and a member of several book clubs, loves embarking on literary emotional rollercoaster rides and sharing it with others . She explains, “That’s the only medium where heartbreak is acceptable. I love the feeling when you take an hour to process a particularly devastating novel, something like The Book Thief, which I recently read. You process a book, and then spend days discussing it with the right people; it just deepens the experience.”
There are many such reading communities in UAE, as Kaira Sen, a Dubai-based 17-year-old student, explains. “Reading has also helped me connect with people too; we enjoy discussing, dissecting, arguing and anticipating plot twists.” Owing to frequent book exchanges, she has read several different kinds of genres in a year; something she hasn’t been able to do in years. “I’ve grown to appreciate different genres,” she adds.
I escape into another world and try to view life from the perspective of another character. It's so much fun!
Rakshit Pandey, a 14-year-old student, spent the summer reading, for the ‘first time’ in his life as he says. Currently, his favourite genre remains scientific fiction such as H.G Wells The Time Machine and The Invisible Man. This has encouraged him to try and write science fiction, as he says shyly. It’s a work in progress, but he aspires to be an author, too, one day.
Fantastical realms, scientific reasoning, long-forgotten periods of history, or just spinning gold from the ordinary grind: Books have something for everyone. Yet, they also offer a special kind of cognitive and intellectual stimulation, as psychologists explain.
Reading is a key to education, empowerment and enlightenment; you have access to vast amounts of emotion, diverse viewpoints and lifelong learning...
Sandy Nouneh, a Dubai-based speech and language therapist explains that reading forms a cornerstone of human development. People extract meaning through the written word. It’s a key to education, empowerment and enlightenment; you have access to vast amounts of emotion, diverse viewpoints and lifelong learning. In a world as fast-paced, busy and pulsing with information as ours, effective reading is crucial. “It deepens our understanding of the world, nurtures empathy, and offers both practical knowledge and enjoyment.”
‘A cognitive workout’
Books may change your life, but they can also change your brain too. Reading has a profound impact on our neurological landscape, influencing the brain structure, function and connectivity in multiple ways, adds Nouneh.
As Eidde Francke, a Dubai-based clinical psychologist explains, “It flexes our cognitive muscles, in ways that scrolling through social media cannot match. When you read, you engage multiple cognitive functions - giving it a cognitive workout. Decoding words stimulates the left hemisphere, the brain’s language center. Understanding complex narratives and characters engages the right hemisphere, fostering creativity and empathy. Reading is a way for us to honour our brainpower.”
As both Nouneh and Francke explain, every time you delve into a book, you’re engaging in a complex neural exercise that strengthens the neural pathways to memory. When you read, your brain actively encodes information, transforming words on a page into mental representations. This process involves creating associations, linking new information to existing knowledge, and forming vivid mental images. As you keep activating these neural connections through reading, the pathways become far stronger and more efficient. It’s like physical exercise: The more you use a particular neural pathway, the better it becomes at transmitting information.
When you read, you engage multiple cognitive functions - giving it a cognitive workout. Decoding words stimulates the left hemisphere, the brain’s language center. Understanding complex narratives and characters engages the right hemisphere, fostering creativity and empathy. Reading is a way for us to honour our brainpower....
It serves well for long-term memory retention. Sophia Edwards, a Dubai-based neurologist explains, recalling plot points, character names, and other details while reading, or even after you've finished, strengthens the memory retrieval process. You engage in critical thinking and hone your analytical skills, as interacting with complex texts and narratives hone problem-solving skills. You’re analysing and interpreting each and every piece of information, too.
The efficiency of your working memory is multiplied manifold: Remember, you’re keeping track of complex storylines, multiple characters and predicting the plot twists require a significant working memory capacity. When you read regularly, you are training your brain to hold and manipulate information. “Essentially, reading helps your brain build a robust memory system. By engaging with different genres, styles, and complexities of text, you can challenge your memory in diverse ways, leading to improved overall cognitive function,” says Edwards.
What research says
You step into someone else’s shoes through the pages of a book. That's the power of storytelling.
Research backs these claims too: Neuroscience studies has shown that reading activates multiple brain regions associated with language, emotion, and cognition. For example, a 2014 study by researchers at US-based Emory University have demonstrated how reading can increase connectivity in the brain's language and visual networks. By using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), researchers were able to observe the physical changes occurring within the brain as participants engaged with a novel.
The study showed that the brain's connectivity patterns remained altered for several days after reading, suggesting that the impact of a novel extends beyond the immediate reading experience. The research identified specific brain regions, such as the left temporal cortex, which is associated with language comprehension, and the primary sensory motor region, that showed increased activity during and after reading. There was also ‘shadow’ activity, as even when participants were not actively reading, their brains continued to exhibit heightened connectivity, akin to a ‘muscle memory’ for the story.
The emotional touch
Reading is more than mental exercise; it’s also an emotional journey, as Nouneh explains. You live many lives when reading, and this is shown in a reader’s ability to comprehend different perspectives and emotions, which builds empathy and intelligence. You develop a deeper connection to the world around you.
“When you immerse yourself in a book, you see the world through their eyes. This challenges our own assumptions and biases, promoting open-mindedness and tolerance,” adds Edwards. Stories evoke a wide range of emotions, from rage, to grief, joy and other inexplicable feelings. From the thrill of victory to the agony of defeat, novels evoke a spectrum of emotions. Why do fictional characters hold such power over our hearts? Why do we laugh, cry, and feel outraged alongside them?
Moreover, reading also shapes our moral compass. As Edwards adds, many books explore complex moral dilemmas, which compels readers to consider different perspectives and make ethical judgments. “It refines our moral compass and enhances our ability to make compassionate choices,” she says.
A 2006 UK-based study published in the academic journal Journal of Personality, linking reading fiction to increased empathy, found that who frequently read fiction demonstrated enhanced abilities in empathy and theory of mind compared to those who primarily read non-fiction. In short, losing yourself in a good story can transform you into a more empathetic person. Fiction is a powerful tool for understanding others and cultivating compassion.
A childhood habit
It is a habit that needs to be cultivated from childhood itself, as Francke emphasises. Indeed, the early bird catches the bookworm. “It is essential for children to read and be read to from early on,” she says. During childhood, the brain is incredibly plastic, which means that it is primed to develop in response to learning experiences. Reading stimulates language development and cognitive growth. “It enhances concentration, improves memory, and sets the foundation for lifelong learning,” adds Francke. Children who read, develop better language skills, possess a richer vocabulary and show improved emotional intelligence.
Many UAE mothers vouch for this, including Evangeline Elsa, Social Media Editor at Gulf News. Her 11-year-old son might not be a bookworm, but he has developed a love for reading, owing to a simple strategy. Elsa explains, “To encourage this habit, I implemented a bedtime routine: I told him he could read for exactly 30 minutes before lights out. This not only helped him relax before sleeping, but also motivated him to read more in an attempt to extend his wake time. He started with simpler books like Roald Dahl's children's stories, but now prefers the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. He's also exploring the Harry Potter books.” She observes the positive impact that it has on his writing and creativity: It has improved significantly.
