Pro tip for a longer life: Pick up a book and start reading. That's based on new evidence from a recent study by researchers at Yale University, who found that people who read books live about 23 months longer than those who do not.
“Reading books is helping you keep your brain sharp, which is helping you live longer,” explained Avni Bavishi, who was a master's degree candidate at Yale University's School of Public Health when she led the study (and has since earned her degree) who led the study published recently in Social Science and Medicine.
The researchers drew their conclusions after examining data from 3,635 participants in the University of Michigan Health and Retirement Survey, a longitudinal and nationally representative sample of people over the age of 50. They analyzed who spent how much time reading what and examined how long they lived, while controlling for other factors including sex, race, education and wealth.
It turned out that book reading conferred a survival advantage even over reading newspapers and magazines, the researchers found.
Two key cognitive processes are at play, the study explained. One is immersive “deep reading,” in which readers draw connections both within the material they're reading and to the outside world. The second is books' promotion of “empathy, social perception, and emotional intelligence,” all of which can create a survival advantage.
The study might be delicious validation for bookworms, but it raises a slew of questions, too. Do e-books and tablets have the same benefits as paper books? Is reading before bedtime different from reading during a subway commute? What difference does it make if a person reads fiction or nonfiction?
“There really are a million questions to keep asking,” said Sally Allen, author of Unlocking Worlds: A Reading Companion for Book Lovers.
