You know that feeling you get when you’re reading a book, and you’re so deeply involved in the story that you lose track of the real world–your surroundings, sounds, time, your own body, everything?
I’ve wondered for a very long time, What exactly is it that makes us get absorbed by a story? What is escapism, physically?
It feels like magic but logically I know it’s science (although, are they really far apart?). How is it that we readers can find such vivid, real, nearly physical experiences from sitting still reading a book?
Oddly enough, I stumbled across part of the answer in a book called Buyology: The Truth And Lies About Why We Buy, by Martin Lindstrom.
Here’s what Martin has to say about what happens to our brains when we’re reading.
Recently, a team of researchers at UCLA used an fMRI to scan subjects’ brains while they read phrases that described a host of actions like “biting a peach” and “grasping a pen.” Later, when the same subjects observed videos of people performing these same two simple actions, the identical cortical regions of the brains lit up. If I simply write the words “nails scratching on a chalkboard” or “sucking on a lemon” or “giant hairy black widow spider,” chances are good that you’ll wince, recoil or otherwise squirm while reading them (your mind visualizes that painful sound, the bitter taste of the lemon wedge, those furry legs edging along your calf). Those are your mirror neurons at work…According to the results of one fMRI study, “When we read a book, these specialized cells respond as if we are actually doing what the book character is doing.” –page 58
How awesome is that? So even if we’re not eating a peach, our brain fires up as if we are. It explains so much about how easy it is to feel as if what we’re reading is really happening.
Some people say that readers have an extra strong ability to empathize with other people because of the mirror neuron effect–because we can live other people’s experiences through books. I don’t know if I buy the “extra strong ability” bit, but I do think mirror neurons teach me a lot about emotion when I read. And suddenly it makes a little more sense as to how I can feel so swallowed up by a book sometimes.
Isn’t it miraculous that our biology allows for us to escape into distant worlds through nothing more than some squiggly lines on a page? Somehow, escapism seems no less mysterious even if you know how it works.
When did you last feel lost in a book? What happened?
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
when reading the Texas Trilogy by Sandra Brown it was as if I was there with the 3 characters, Chase-Lucky-Sage. I was on the ranch, right along with them in their triumphs and trials. I was doing whatever they were doing(well maybe not quite everything, lol) but everyday chores/activities. I lost myself to the character(s) of each book. When taking a break I’d put the book down, look around and all of a sudden realize I was in my bed reading and not there with Chase, Lucky or Sage. Honestly.
I find that I can easily get lost in a book. Reading is such entertainment and escapism. A good book for me is one that thoroughly engages my emotions. I get “lost” if something about the plot or characters touches my heart. I have so many books on my “keeper shelf” now because I can’t bear to part with them.
This theory works nicely with John Gardner’s The Art of Fiction when he talks about inducing the fictional dream for readers. It’s cool how artists discern something and then scientists present evidence proving that something. Good post. I’ll look for Martin Lindstrom’s book. Thanks.
Brenda ND’s last blog post..Memorial Day — More ThanJust the Start of Summer
I think this is one of the reasons bibliotherapy works–one the one hand, we experience the emotions, but on the other hand, we don’t have to do whatever it was to generate them. Stories are a safe place to respond and try out alternate endings.
Ann Marie’s last blog post..Non-Reading Life
Every time I pick up a novel that is captivating and enthralling I become lost in another world. This happens when the characters are beautifully portrayed and the story beckons me. I cannot resist the pull to learn more about the tensions and the story that causes the emotional turbulence. It is an irresistible world.
Thanks for your comments, all!
@ RobynL–that sounds like a book worth reading. I’ll try to check it out!
@ cheryl c.–I have a too big keeper shelf too.
@ Brenda ND — You know, I’m so terrible. I haven’t read JG’s manual yet–I’ve read so many quote from it though. I too love the idea of fiction as a waking dream.
Anne Marie– Bibliotherapy! That’s news to me. That sounds very very cool. I’ll have to investiage.
pearl–I love your sentence “it is an irresistable world.” Yes–a whole world, in such a small thing as a book.
Lisa Dale’s last blog post..It’s True: Wedding Bells Are Ringing!
Sadly, I have not had the pleasure of being “lost in a book” in some time … been reading, just nothing “lost worthy” recently.
That being said, I remember the feeling … and what I find most startling is how when I am “emotionally captured” by a book/characters etc., that I transfer the feelings I am having (usually anxiety or angst – from the books I typically read) about the story into my “real” life. I have to sometimes remember that what’s happening in the character’s lives is not in fact happening in mine. I always thought this was the sign of a “good book.” Happy to hear that it’s ‘perfectly normal,’ lol