Forget chatbots, reading can help combat loneliness

The Star

24-05-2025

HAVING fewer than five close friends may not provide enough social contact. But larger numbers are less likely to be close friends. The dilemma of technology frequently means that despite some people having vast numbers of friends on social media, they are not close friends and so do not provide the social support needed.
Similarly, artificial intelligence (AI) based chatbots may not provide the type of face-to-face social interaction that people need to flourish. During the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns in 2020, a study found that face-to-face communication was far more beneficial for mental health than digital communication.
But how can reading help us to feel less lonely and have better wellbeing?
A recent survey from The Queen's Reading Room, the charity and book club of Britain's Queen Camilla, as well as other surveys, have found that reading fiction and other books significantly reduces feelings of loneliness and improves wellbeing.
Another charity, The Reader, conducted a survey of approximately 2,000 participants and found that this was especially true among young adults: 59% of those aged 18 to 34 said reading made them feel more connected to others, and 56% felt less alone during the pandemic.
Another survey, in conjunction with the University of Liverpool, of more than 4,000 participants found that reading offers powerful benefits, serving as a top method for reducing stress.
In addition, participants reported that reading encouraged personal growth, such as improving health, picking up hobbies, and boosting empathy, with 64% of readers having a better understanding of the feelings of others.
Reading and the brain
Indeed, scientific research looking at book clubs and shared reading backs this up, finding notable emotional and social benefits of reading. For example, students reported greater connection (42.9%) to others, deeper understanding of others' experiences and beliefs (61.2%) and reduced loneliness (14.3%) as a result of reading.
The surveys above all rely on people reporting how they feel, rather than an objective measure. But there are also findings from objective measures of the brain, including neuroimaging.
A systematic review of 11 intervention studies showed that shared reading among older adults improved wellbeing and helped alleviate loneliness and social isolation.
One way in which reading may help reduce loneliness is by enhancing our social cognition, which is the ability to understand and connect with others.
A neuroimaging study of young adults found that reading fiction, particularly passages with social content, activated areas of the brain involved in social behaviour and emotional understanding, such as the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex. This brain region was also linked to the stronger social cognition seen in frequent fiction readers, suggesting a neural pathway through which reading fosters greater social connectedness.
Importantly, reading may also reduce the risk of dementia. One study of 469 people aged 75 and over, with no dementia at baseline, were followed up for 5.1 years. Among leisure activities such as playing board games, playing musical instruments, and dancing, reading was associated with a 35% reduced risk of dementia.
A number of studies have similarly shown that engaging in cognitively stimulating activities, such as reading, can slow cognitive decline and reduce the risk of dementia.
Our own research also showed the benefits of reading for pleasure early in life. In a large sample of more than 10,000 children in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study, we found that those who read for pleasure early in life had better brain structure, cognition, academic achievement, longer sleep duration, and better mental health – including lower symptoms of inattention, stress, and depression – when adolescents. Impor-tantly, they also had less screen time and better social interactions.
So while AI and chatbots can enhance our lives in many ways, they are not a solution to every-thing. We know that while technology has many benefits, it has also produced many unforeseen problems. Let's solve problems of loneliness and social isolation through reading and book clubs. Reading is also a great way to improve brain structure, cognition, and wellbeing. – The Conversation
Barbara Jacquelyn Sahakian is professor of clinical neuropsychology at the University of Cambridge, and Christelle Langley is a post-doctoral research associate, cognitive neuroscience, at the same institution.
This article was first published in The Conversation.