Reading stories activates neural representations of visual and motor experiences.
To understand and remember stories, readers integrate their knowledge of the world with information in the text. Here we present functional neuroimaging evidence that neural systems track changes in the situation described by a story. Different brain regions track different aspects of a story, such as a character's physical location or current goals. Some of these regions mirror those involved when people perform, imagine, or observe similar real-world activities. These results support the view that readers understand a story by simulating the events in the story world and updating their simulation when features of that world change.
Speer
Nicole K
NK
Washington University in St. Louis, MO 63130, USA.
Reynolds
Jeremy R
JR
Swallow
Khena M
KM
Zacks
Jeffrey M
JM
D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D032882:Comprehension / Q000502:physiology*; D003210:Concept Formation / Q000502:physiology; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D007092:Imagination / Q000502:physiology*; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D009949:Orientation / Q000502:physiology; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D011932:Reading; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D013998:Time Perception / Q000502:physiology; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult