Does the way information "sticks" to our brains differ depending on the medium? New research suggests it might, with readers engaging more with a story in a traditional book than one read on a digital device.
In a study by a team of scientists from the University of Tokyo, 25 participants experienced both reading formats, allowing the researchers to compare each person's brain activity as they read text, first on paper and then on a tablet. Essentially, each person acted as the control.
While the study is relatively small, it's a curious avenue of research that's not well understood as we increasingly move from book to screen.
“We assembled a test group and gave them all a reading task, then some questions to answer,” says senior author Kuniyoshi Sakai, a neuroscientist at the University of Tokyo.
“Participants were given the same manga to read, a special story split into two protagonists' perspectives. The questions included simple ones and complex ones, the latter of which required comprehension of both parts of the story."
The manga was delivered in either a paper-based or e-reader format. During questioning, the team used a magnetic resonance imaging scanner to measure activity in specific brain regions.
"We found some interesting differences in activity between the two test groups,” says Sakai.
While participants answered questions accurately under both conditions, those who used a tablet for the opening part of the narrative and read the second half on paper took significantly longer to answer more challenging questions about the story.
Critically, the brain scans also revealed a stark difference in activity depending on whether the initial read was on paper or tablet.
Individuals who first read the story on paper showed reduced activation in frontal language-related brain regions, suggesting that taking in information in a hard-copy medium may give the brain space to "organize" narrative detail with less effort, reducing processing demands later on.
“This is the first time that a neuroscientific investigation has revealed a specific difference in brain activity between readers of either paper or screens," Sakai says.
"It’s a fascinating result, but it was tricky to devise this experiment. When comparing a paper book and an electronic tablet, we cannot bring the latter device into the scanning room because the scanner is a huge magnet. So instead, participants first read the opening half of the story either on paper or on a tablet outside the scanner and later read the second half inside the scanner using LCD goggles.
“The same results would likely be obtained for reading novels, because storylines and contextual flow are basically the same between manga, novels and other written material," he adds. "One important advantage of using manga stories in our tests was that manga has visual narratives, which provide rich pictorial information that facilitates the comprehension of scenes.”
Given the small study cohort and its manga-specific focus, there's only so much we can draw from this. But it's also interesting that the participants were young – in their 20s. This demographic, in the US, dominates the eBook market.
While the study size and diversity deliver plenty of limitations, it does propose some interesting avenues of research. For example, does paper provide a more engaging spatial and tactile experience, which works with brain communication better?
“Using a similar method, we are now examining the effects of writing by hand or with a keyboard," Sakai says. "This would be a natural extension of comparing paper and electronic devices.
"The advantage of paper is not only about memory, attention and emotional engagement, but about language and thought because it involves careful reading and thinking processes," he adds.
The research was published in PLOS One.
Source: University of Tokyo
Fact-checked by Mike McRae
