When people read poetry strictly for its beauty, their brains go through a distinct three-step process that separates emotional resonance from basic reading comprehension. Researchers mapped brain activity and found that readers temporarily quiet their brain’s language-processing centers in order to fully immerse themselves in the images and emotions of the text. The results of this study were published in the journal NeuroImage.
In the fields of education and literature, scholars often divide reading into two distinct categories. The first is efferent reading. This happens when we read to extract facts, analyze writing techniques, or gather objective information. The second is aesthetic reading. This includes connecting with the text on a personal, emotional, or imaginative level.
When students read biology textbooks, they may be practicing efferent reading. When those same students read a moving novel and feel empathy for the characters, they shift to an aesthetic reading stance. According to educational theory, true aesthetic reading requires the reader to move beyond the literal meaning of words.
The aesthetic process begins with understanding the external language of the text. Ultimately, readers must go inward, using their own memories and emotional responses to appreciate the work. The exact biological mechanisms behind this transition from literal understanding to deep emotional resonance remain a mystery.
Researchers Huishu Liu from South China Normal University and Xiaomeng Xu from Tsinghua University led a small study to physically observe these changes in the brain. Together with colleagues Wanyan Sun, Dan Zhang, and Yu Zhang, they wanted to track the precise moment when a reader moves from simply decoding a text to experiencing internal resonance.
To do this, the research team used a technique called functional near-infrared spectroscopy, commonly referred to as fNIRS. The device looks like a swimming cap studded with tiny sensors and wires, and participants wear it securely on their heads during the experiment. The sensor shines harmless near-infrared light through the skull and measures changes in blood flow on the surface of the brain. This technology tracks the absorption of light and calculates the concentration of chemicals in real time.
When certain parts of the brain are working harder, they require more oxygen. The fNIRS cap measures oxyhemoglobin, the molecule that carries oxygen in the blood, and shows which areas of the brain are currently active. Although the tool does not scan deep into the brain, participants can sit comfortably in front of a computer and perform natural reading tasks.
The research team recruited 35 university students in Beijing to participate in the experiment. This sample size is less than 50, so it is considered a small study. Participants represented a balanced mix of academic disciplines including engineering, science, and humanities.
For reading material, the research team selected 20 Chinese poems. Specifically, I selected a five-character rhythmic poem from the Tang Dynasty. These poems are well known for evoking strong images, and each has exactly 40 characters. Native readers can usually skim a poem of this length in 5 to 8 seconds.
During the experiment, participants sat in front of a computer screen while wearing the fNIRS device. For some poems, the researchers asked students to perform efferent readings. They were told to focus on the poem’s structure, historical facts, and literary techniques.
For other poems, I asked students to read them aesthetically. This prompt asked them to feel the emotion of the work and to imagine the landscape depicted. Each poem remained on the screen for 50 seconds. After each round reading, students answered questions about their mindset, how familiar they were with the poem, and how much they liked it.
Brain scans reveal a unique timeline of activity during an aesthetic reading task. The researchers observed a clear three-step pattern that did not occur when participants read only the facts. To calculate these brain changes, the software compared blood flow during the reading task to a baseline resting state. The first few seconds of the process were approximately the same for both reading conditions.
During the first 10 seconds of the reading, blood flow increased in several sections of the left temporal lobe, an area located near the ear. These parts of the brain include the left superior temporal gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, and inferior temporal gyrus, which manage word processing and basic language comprehension. The left primary somatosensory cortex, which helps process sensory information, also showed increased oxygen levels. At this early stage, participants were simply accepting the words and understanding what the poem was literally saying.
The second phase occurred from the 10 second mark to the 32 mark. During this period, readers in the aesthetic group showed a surprising decrease in oxygen-containing blood flow within the same temporal lobe region. Researchers have named this phenomenon semantic inhibition.
Essentially, the brain seemed to mute its own language processing centers. The reader temporarily stopped analyzing the literal meaning of the vocabulary. In contrast, students who engaged in factual reading maintained high levels of activity in these language centers throughout the window.
The third phase unfolded during the last 20 seconds of the reading task. In aesthetic readers, temporal lobe regions became highly active again. At exactly the same time, a new area near the top and front of the head flooded with oxygen-rich blood.
This frontal region is known as the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Neuroscientists have linked this particular brain region to retrieving personal memories, generating mental images, and feeling empathy. The high activity in the second half suggests that participants were actively connecting the meaning of the poem to their own inner feelings and life experiences.
The researchers also looked at the relationship between the magnitude of these blood flow changes and readers’ subjective experiences. The students who experienced the greatest decline in language processing ability followed by a rapid recovery were those who reported the highest levels of aesthetic awareness.
The study authors noted that this advancement reflects ancient philosophical ideas about art and truth. In Taoism, classical thinkers often described language as a temporary ladder or passageway. Once a person understands the deeper truth of a concept, they should abandon the words used to convey it.
Similar movements appear to play out on a biological level during poetry reading. The brain relies on language centers to decode the initial text. Once basic meaning is firmly established, the brain suppresses its literal analysis, making room for imagination and emotional resonance to take over.
The findings also reflect ideas advanced by philosopher Friedrich Schiller, who argued that humans are caught between ruthless rationality and boundless emotion. Schiller believed that true aesthetic appreciation acts as a bridge, reconciling reason and feeling. These three levels of brain response physically demonstrate a balanced harmony between the rational processing of vocabulary and the emotional experience of art.
Although these brain activity maps are very detailed, the authors point out several caveats. The technique used in the experiment measures blood flow only at the surface of the cortex. This means that deep brain structures involved in emotion and memory are not visible as part of this process.
Moreover, an apparent decrease in oxygenated blood flow does not unconditionally prove that the brain is actively suppressing function. Participants may have simply turned their attention away from the text for a few seconds. Differences in activation may not be statistically significant across populations large enough to establish absolute biological rules.
Future studies using broader demographic groups and high-resolution brain scanners may reveal the exact nature of this intermediate stage. Scientists can also apply these scanning methods to different forms of art, such as listening to music or observing paintings.
Educational practices often prioritize syntax, vocabulary testing, and rigorous text analysis over emotional engagement. The authors hope these early insights will encourage educators to move away from literal definitions and give students more mental space. By letting go of words for a moment, readers may discover a deeper beauty in literature.
The study, “Neurodynamics of Aesthetic Appreciation: fNIRS Evidence from Poetry Reading,” was authored by Huishu Liu, Xiaomeng Xu, Wanyan Sun, Dan Zhang, and Yu Zhang.
