The Debate Over Reading Mediums
A recent study has added new insights to the long-standing debate about whether digital readers or printed books are more effective for reading. By observing how the brain processes information in each format, researchers have found that printed books may offer certain advantages over e-readers.
The findings, published in the journal PLOS ONE, suggest that the brain might process and connect story details more efficiently when reading from a physical book. In contrast, e-readers present text and images on a static screen, which may lack the physical cues that help readers better understand a narrative.
Using Manga to Explore Story Comprehension
Researchers at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Tokyo used Japanese comic books, known as manga, to investigate how the brain constructs a “story schema” — a mental framework that organizes characters, timelines, and relationships in a narrative.
They found that printed materials provide tactile and spatial cues, such as the thickness of a page or the placement of events, which may help readers mentally map a story more effectively than digital tablets can.
The Study Setup
The research was conducted in collaboration with COAMIX INC., a Japanese publisher of manga, known for titles like “Record of Ragnarok” and “Wakako Sake.”
Kuniyoshi L. Sakai, a professor at the University of Tokyo’s Department of Basic Science, expressed surprise at the results. The team enlisted 25 Japanese college students, all right-handed, to reduce variability in brain organization.
Since digital devices interfere with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), participants were asked to read the first half of a manga story either in a physical book or on a screen before entering an fMRI scanner. They then read the second half through specialized goggles.
At the end of the experiment, participants took a quiz that tested their understanding of the plot, including questions that required integrating information from both halves of the story.
Results and Implications
Both groups performed well overall, but those who read from a tablet for the first half of the story took longer to answer complex questions that required combining information from different parts of the narrative.
Sakai noted that both hemispheres of the brain, which are involved in language processing and cognitive support, were less engaged when reading from paper compared to digital formats. This suggests that the brain may be performing tasks more efficiently when reading physical books.
Brain Activity Differences
Participants who read physical manga showed lower brain activity in areas responsible for language processing and narrative integration, indicating more efficient task performance. Tablet readers, however, showed higher activity in these regions, as well as in areas related to spatial processing and difficult cognitive tasks.
This implies that device users needed more brain power to reconstruct the story during the final test, suggesting that paper readers had formed a stronger mental schema during the initial reading.
Broader Applications
Despite the differences between conventional books and picture books, Sakai defended the use of manga because its reliance on images helps facilitate comprehension across all reading levels.
He believes the same results would apply to novels or other traditional texts, as story structures and contextual flow are similar.
Additional Research
While research on digital reading formats is ongoing, this is not the first study to compare tablets with printed books. A 2019 study in the journal Pediatrics found that parents and children who read from real books together experienced better bonding than those using e-readers.
“The print book is really the gold standard in eliciting positive interactions between parents and their children,” said lead researcher Dr. Tiffany Munzer from the University of Michigan.