Paper or pixel? Science settles divisive debate over best way to read real books or screens

Here’s the word on the best medium for readingA new study may have settled the contentious debate over the efficacy of digital readers versus hard copy books by observing the brain processes behind reading for each format.The findings, published in the journal PLOS ONE, revealed that the brain may process and connect story details more efficiently by reading content printed on a page, whereas an e-reader presents letters and pictures on a static screen, thus providing fewer physical cues to help the reader grasp a story.Researchers at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Tokyo used Japanese comic books, called manga, for their investigation of how the brain builds a “story schema,” a mental framework that organizes characters, timelines and relationships described in a narrative.The results suggested that printed works provide tactile and spatial cues, such as the thickness of or placement of events on a page, that may better help readers mentally map a story than digital tablets can.The research was conducted in partnership with COAMIX INC., a Japanese publisher of manga whose most popular titles include “Record of Ragnarok” and “Wakako Sake.”Kuniyoshi L.

Sakai, a professor at the University of Tokyo’s Department of Basic Science, told PsyPost in a statement that the team was “surprised” by the results.Researchers enlisted 25 Japanese college students, all of whom were right-handed — a parameter that would likely reduce variability in brain organization, according to the American Academy of Neurology.Since digital devices would interfere with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) — the gold standard for observing brain activity — the participants were asked to enter the fMRI scanner just after reading the first half of a manga story, either with a physical book or on a screen.

Upon entering the machine, participants then read the second half of the story through specialized goggles.At the end of the experiment, read...