From Words to Brain
5/5
()
About this ebook
What is it that transforms a page full of words into a tale that entertains us, informs us, and ultimately leaves us changed? In her essay From Words to Brain, former MIT neuroscientist Livia Blackburne explores the brain basis of reading–a skill that is incredibly complex and integral to modern culture. Using the classic fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood as a guide, Blackburne follows the story from its physical manifestation on the page, through the reader’s visual system, and ultimately into the reader’s imagination and beyond. Because the experience of reading a story does not end with the last page. That’s the point at which the real magic begins.
From Words to Brain is 6700 words long, or roughly 27 printed pages.
Livia Blackburne
Livia Blackburne is the author of Clementine and Danny Save the World (and Each Other). She is also the New York Times bestselling author of Midnight Thief, Rosemarked, and Feather and Flame, as well as the picture book I Dream of Popo, which received three starred reviews and was on numerous best-of-year lists. Livia graduated from MIT and lives in Los Angeles, CA. Visit her online at liviablackburne.com.
Read more from Livia Blackburne
Poison Dance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rosemarked Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLord of Time Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to From Words to Brain
Related ebooks
Mystic Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Tribal Knot: A Memoir of Family, Community, and a Century of Change Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBroken Symmetry Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Feel The Rain: An Introduction to the Complexity and Expansion of Conscious Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMental Causation: The Mind-Body Problem Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings6 Keys of Spiritual Transformation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Nature of Creative Development Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Divine Comedy: Purgatory Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dreamwork Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEssays in Experimental Logic Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNo Longer Lonely: A Gay Former Priest Journeys from His Secret to Freedom. Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Logic of Thought: Including Essays in Experimental Logic; Creative Intelligence; Human Nature & Conduct, Leibniz's New Essays... Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhen Nights Were Cold: A literary mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The One-Donkey Solution: A Satire Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Prisoner's Wisdom: Transcending the Ego Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBoswelliana: The Commonplace Book of James Boswell, with a Memoir and Annotations Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Soul’s Journey into Light: Through Revelation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBABY BOOMER DICTIONARY and Thesaurus Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEditorial Expectations: Yours and Theirs Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAt The Crossing Of Seven Winds Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTime for the Wind Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThere are no Right Answers to Wrong Questions: 15 Ways Our Questions Influence Our Choices to Live a Christian Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Machiavellian Librarian: Winning Allies, Combating Budget Cuts, and influencing Stakeholders Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Reign of the Essence: Encyclopedia of Critical Thinking Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCloser to Death, Closer to God: True Stories of a Spiritual Awakening Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKant and the Promise of Rhetoric Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Electronic Word: Democracy, Technology, and the Arts Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBiographia Literaria Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDeath, Dying and Beyond: The Science and Spirituality of Death Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBeloved: 81 poems from Hafez Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Science & Mathematics For You
Becoming Cliterate: Why Orgasm Equality Matters--And How to Get It Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Outsmart Your Brain: Why Learning is Hard and How You Can Make It Easy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Crack In Creation: Gene Editing and the Unthinkable Power to Control Evolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dorito Effect: The Surprising New Truth About Food and Flavor Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Big Book of Hacks: 264 Amazing DIY Tech Projects Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Suicidal: Why We Kill Ourselves Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Metaphors We Live By Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hunt for the Skinwalker: Science Confronts the Unexplained at a Remote Ranch in Utah Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Letter to Liberals: Censorship and COVID: An Attack on Science and American Ideals Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Ultralearning: Master Hard Skills, Outsmart the Competition, and Accelerate Your Career Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Free Will Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lies My Gov't Told Me: And the Better Future Coming Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Memory Craft: Improve Your Memory with the Most Powerful Methods in History Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Wisdom of Psychopaths: What Saints, Spies, and Serial Killers Can Teach Us About Success Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Psychology of Totalitarianism Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Activate Your Brain: How Understanding Your Brain Can Improve Your Work - and Your Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Systems Thinker: Essential Thinking Skills For Solving Problems, Managing Chaos, Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hungry Brain: Outsmarting the Instincts That Make Us Overeat Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5No Stone Unturned: The True Story of the World's Premier Forensic Investigators Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Invisible Rainbow: A History of Electricity and Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Trouble With Testosterone: And Other Essays On The Biology Of The Human Predi Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Complete Guide to Memory: The Science of Strengthening Your Mind Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFlu: The Story of the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and the Search for the Virus That Caused It Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for From Words to Brain
1 rating1 review
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Well worth the time to read this short book. I suspect it will stimulate your thinking about how we respond to whatever we read.
Book preview
From Words to Brain - Livia Blackburne
changed.
From Ink to Words
HERE’S a simple exercise. Count the number of times the letter ‘A’ appears in the sentences below. Easy enough, but, there's a catch. You have to do it without reading the words.
Ready?
One day, after Little Red Riding hood woke up, mother called her into the kitchen and handed her a basket of cakes and pastries. Take these to grandmother. She's sick, and perhaps these cakes will make her feel better.
If you have been reading for years, you probably found it difficult, if not impossible, to keep yourself from reading. You may have kept yourself from understanding the sentence, but odds are, you probably understood some of the words. When I try to do it, I have to blur my vision because if any letters come into focus, I automatically decode their meaning. For most adults in literate countries, reading is so well practiced that it’s reflexive. If the words are there, it's impossible not to