While the only type of text read these days is a text message, the excitement of getting lost in a book rather than winky faces from the attractive new kid have sadly started to fade. But picking up the latest novel (i.e. The Hunger Games) has much more value to the brain than people think.

New neuroscience research has shown reading fiction books can develop social skills and emotional understanding at a deeper level than expected. Fictional stories stimulate the brain and can even change how a person reacts and responds to problems in their life.

For example, reading words that involve taste, touch or even smell don’t just create a response in the brain in the language processing area, but in the part devoted to the five senses. The brain can interpret words on a deeper scale than most people understand. In a way, reading exercises the brain. And we all know at least one person whose brain could use more exercise.

It also appears as though the brain does not make a distinction between social situations in real life and in books. According to Keith Oatley, professor of cognitive psychology at the University of Toronto, reading about social interactions and the emotions of a character can actually make people better at understanding both in real life.

Take the kids who were called nerds in elementary school sim- ply because they were always seen reading a book. Those are the kids who know a lot more about social situations and empathizing with others than the people who hardly ever touch a book.

Books create unique opportunities to understand people at a new level. So rather than trying to decipher one of your peers through their latest tweet, read some fiction. It will make more sense than the tweets, anyway.