Page 9 - ELG2505 May Issue 494

NEWS
Attention! Let’s read together

Gill Ragsdale reports on the benefits of live storytelling.

T oddlers’ brains respond for word count and language of brain activity. This requires the attention and mentalising (making
complexity. During the study, each
differently to live vs
child to wear a tight-fitting cap
sense of others’ mental states).
child sat next to the same female
recorded
storytelling
over the head secured with a chin
This suggests that even though the
according to research by
for each child, the two stories
being able to see the real person
Sensors in the cap were placed
Meredith Pecukonis and colleagues researcher to hear the stories but strap and covered in a shower cap. story was read by the same person,
at Boston University, USA. were delivered differently with the over regions of interest identified speaking more strongly activated
Evidence is mounting that mode of delivery randomised. from previous studies. parts of the brain associated with
exposing young children to language For each child, one of the stories Anyone familiar with children social cognition.
via screen time rather than in person was read aloud by the researcher of this age might wonder how they Further questions remain, such
has detrimental consequences for while sharing the book and turning tolerated this process. Apparently as whether book vs screen has an
brain development and language the pages. The researcher wore snacks and fidget toys were impact, as previous research has
skills. What is less clear is how these earbuds to match their delivery to a employed as necessary, but two been inconsistent. And does the
consequences come about, that is, recording to ensure all the readings children could not be induced to activation of social processing seen
how children’s brains respond to were delivered in the same way. listen to the second story as they in this study directly impact language
these different kinds of language The other story was delivered refused to keep the cap on. It is not skills? It may be that the role and
input in real time. Addressing as a recording by the same hard to see why so little work of this possible interaction with a live person
this gap in knowledge, Pecukonis researcher while the text appeared kind has been done and why sample is the key, whether they are sharing
et al set out to measure the brain on a screen. In both cases, the sizes tend to be small although attention to a book or a screen.
activity of preschoolers in response researcher did not interact with compared to other techniques,
to listening to a story read live in the children in any way. fNIRS is relatively child friendly. REFERENCE
person from a book vs listening to During both readings the The results showed an increase in n Pecukonis, M., Yucel, M., Lee, H.,
a recording accompanying the same child’s brain activity was recorded right brain activation in the book- Knox, C., Boas, D. A. and Tager-
text on screen. using fNIRS (functional near- reading condition, particularly in Flusberg, H. 2025. Do children’s brains
Twenty-eight preschoolers aged infrared spectroscopy). Like the the right temporoparietal junction function differently during book reading
36 to 72 months each listened to more familiar fMRI, this method (TPJ). The TPJ is associated and screen time? A fNIRS study.
two stories written and illustrated depends on picking up higher with processing socially relevant Developmental Science, 28: e13615.
for the study and matched levels of oxygenated blood as a sign information via, for example, joint https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.13615

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