Proust and the Squid

The process of learning to read creates physical changes in the brain that directly affect how that brain works and how we think. Understanding this process (neuroplasticity) in the reading brain prepares us to better understand the changes we’re currently undergoing as we “make the transition from a reading brain to an increasingly digital one.”

Key Concepts

• The efficient reading brain — which takes years to develop — literally has “more time to think” (54).
• Contrary to spoken language, “there are neither genes nor biological structures specific only to reading. Instead, in order to read, each brain must learn to make new circuits by connecting older regions originally designed and genetically programmed for other things” (168).
• “The new circuits and pathways that the brain fashions in order to read become the foundations for being able to think in different, innovative ways” (271).

Impressions

The first part of this book focuses on the plasticity of the brain and the ways that learning to read changes it. Wolf illustrates this story with historical accounts of writing in early societies and plenty of good ol’ neuroscience. Later chapters focus more closely on reading development in children and dyslexia before returning in a brief final chapter to the effects of digital technology on how our brains work.