Grimer Girl here, we have a great new podcast at quick and dirty tips called The Savvy

Psychologist, and it's hosted by Ellen Hendrickson, who's guestwritten today's podcast, which

is the first of two parts about some fascinating new research showing that reading fiction actually

changes your brain.

Reading fiction has been described as telepathy.

We readers come to know a character's deepest emotions, private desires, and even twisted

rationalizations.

Now, two recent studies show that figuratively standing in the shoes of Jane Eyre, Humbert

Humbert, or Cepha, may not only foster our ability to understand others, but may also

strengthen our own brain's connectivity in the process.

A 2013 study in the journal Science made a splash by revealing that reading fiction,

but not just any fiction, specifically literature, improves our ability to know what real world

people think, feel, intend, believe, or want.

This ability is called Theory of Mind.

We're born with a fuzzy form of it, but it takes years of social practice to refine

it, like sharpening a tool.

We try to teach our kids theory of mind skills, saying things like, Tommy cried when you

took his dump truck.

How do you think that made him feel?

This helps them understand that others have beliefs, feelings, and perspectives different

from their own.

Now, it may seem that Theory of Mind is the same as empathy.

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