Reading fiction and reading minds: the role of simulation in the default network
Author: Tamir, Diana I.; Bricker, Andrew B.; Dodell-Feder, David; Mitchell, Jason P. Description: Research in psychology has suggested that reading fiction can improve individuals’ social-cognitive abilities. Findings from neuroscience show that reading and social cognition both recruit the default network, a network which is known to support our capacity to simulate hypothetical scenes, spaces and mental states. The current research tests the hypothesis that fiction reading enhances social cognition because it serves to exercise the default subnetwork involved in theory of mind. While undergoing functional neuroimaging, participants read literary passages…
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