A collaborative research group at Kanazawa University, University of Fukui, and Chiba Institute of Technology has revealed that the brain response of a child reading a picture book differs depending on whether the reader is a mother or another person.During the mother's storytelling, it was shown that the strength of the brain network was increased and the brain was in an efficient state of brain activity.
Reading picture books to children is said to promote language, cognitive, and social development, and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends reading to children as early as possible.However, the effects of storytelling on the child's brain and its development have not been sufficiently advanced in brain imaging research.
This time, the research group asked 4 children aged 10 to 15 years to listen to their mother's storytelling and the mother of another person (inspector) to investigate the effect of storytelling on the child's brain. ) Was measured by a magnetoencephalograph for infants while listening to the storytelling, and the characteristics of the brain network were evaluated using an analysis method (graph analysis) that captures the network structure.
As a result, it was found that the strength of the brain network increased throughout the brain when the mother read aloud, indicating efficient brain activity.In addition, according to the facial expression analysis of the child during the storytelling, the child tended to concentrate on the screen with a positive facial expression when the mother read the story.
This study clarified the effect of mother's storytelling on the child's brain network, and it is unclear how the strength and efficiency of the high brain network affects the child's growth. ..In addition, it is necessary to verify the effect of reading aloud not only to mothers but also to fathers and other caregivers, as well as close adults other than family members such as nursery teachers and teachers.
Paper information:[Neuro Image] Effects of familiarity on child brain networks when listening to a storybook reading: A magneto-encephalographic study
