Deep Reading

Deep Reading

What Happens in Your Brain When You Lose Yourself in a Book

What Happens in Your Brain When You Lose Yourself in a Book

What Happens in Your Brain When You Lose Yourself in a Book

The neuroscience of immersive reading — and why fiction is empathy training.

The neuroscience of immersive reading — and why fiction is empathy training.

The neuroscience of immersive reading — and why fiction is empathy training.

Maryanne Wolf

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The myth of fluency

Two studies, one finding

What ‘elbow room’ looks like

An invitation

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Wolf’s Literary Hub essay (2018) on what immersive reading does in the brain — and why fiction is empathy’s training ground.

The act of taking on the perspective and feelings of others is one of the most profound, insufficiently heralded contributions of the deep-reading processes.

— Maryanne Wolf, Literary Hub

Read the full essay at Literary Hub.

Related in the Nest: Skim reading is the new normal · Wolf on the Ezra Klein podcast

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Evidence-based reading programs grounded in 20+ years of research. Created by Dr. Maryanne Wolf.

© 2026 Nido Learning, Inc. All rights reserved.

Nido Learning logo

Evidence-based reading programs grounded in 20+ years of research. Created by Dr. Maryanne Wolf.

© 2026 Nido Learning, Inc. All rights reserved.

Nido Learning logo

Evidence-based reading programs grounded in 20+ years of research. Created by Dr. Maryanne Wolf.

© 2026 Nido Learning, Inc. All rights reserved.