End of Audiobook Snobbery
Scientists find listening activates the same parts of the brain as reading
Book snobs who insist that reading literature is superior to listening to an audiobook may want to look away now. Neuroscientists have discovered that the same cognitive and emotional parts of the brain are stimulated whether a person hears words or reads them on a page. A YouGov study carried out in 2016 found that just 10% believed that listening to an audiobook was the same as having read the physical version, with the majority believing it was a lesser form of culture.
But experts at the University of California, Berkeley, disagree.
Lead author Dr Fatma Deniz, a researcher in neuroscience said: “At a time when more people are absorbing information via audiobooks and podcasts, our study shows that, whether they're listening to, or reading the same materials, they are processing semantic information similarly. “We knew that a few brain regions were activated similarly when you hear a word and read the same word, but I was not expecting such strong similarities in the meaning representation across a large network of brain regions in both these sensory modalities.”
Language is a complex process that involves many regions of the brain, and it was previously thought the brain dealt with spoken and written information differently.
For the study, nine volunteers listened to stories from The Moth Radio Hour, a popular podcast broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in which people read out true stories. The study participants were then asked to read the same stories. Researchers scanned the brains in both the listening and reading conditions to compare brain activity and found they were virtually identical. They also found that words activated specific parts of the brain depending on whether they were visual, tactile, numeric, locational, violent, mental, emotional and or social. The maps, which covered at least one-third of the cerebral cortex, enabled the researchers to predict with accuracy which words would activate which parts of the brain.
Scientists believe the word maps could have clinical applications, such as comparing language processing for people with stroke, epilepsy, impaired speech, brain damage or dyslexia. “If, in the future, we find that the dyslexic brain has rich semantic language representation when listening to an audiobook or other recording, that could bring more audio materials into the classroom,” added Dr Deniz. "It would be very helpful to be able to compare the listening and reading semantic maps for people with auditory processing disorder.”
[This research was published in the Journal of Neuroscience.]
THUNDER FALLS - A NOVEL
THE EDUCATION OF LEOPOLD RED WOLF
PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 2023
Thunder Falls chronicles the transformation of Leopold Wolf from a naïve young man into an outspoken advocate for Native American rights during the late 1800’s.
Leo and his father Isaac work for the Carlisle Indian School, an institution that will become notorious for its harshness, governed by the mantra—Kill the Indian, Save the Man. Leo witnesses the abuse, neglect, and victimization of children under the institution’s care and resolves to help them gain the respect their tradition deserves.
Leo’s quest takes him to Lakota territory, where elder and holy man Black Elk has a vision of Leo recovering the tribe’s Sacred Pipe, stolen years ago. Leo’s journey into—and under—the Black Hills reveals extraordinary phenomena about the Lakota and about himself. In the caverns of the Black Hills he encounters the red wolf, Thunder Falls, and the Soul Tree, all guiding him toward his destiny. While pursuing the eternal love of Sarah Cameron—niece of a senator notorious for his enmity against the Lakota—and fighting for Native American rights, Leo will cross the country with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, and ultimately risk his life for the sake of the people he has come to care for.
THE NAZARITE
THE UNTOLD STORY OF
SAMSON & DELILAH
PUBLISHED IN SERIALIZED FORMAT - MARCH 2023
Samson and Delilah was one of my favorite bible stories. The great Israelite and strongman, able to kill a lion with his bare hands, defeat an army of one-thousand strong with the jawbone of an ass, plus many more captivating Herculean feats. Plenty of heroics to impress a young boy.
During the writing of my latest book—Thunder Falls, I make reference to Samson and Delilah, causing me to ponder it once again. What a fantastic tale of great and outrageous feats, as well as an intriguing love affair between an Israelite and a Philistine. It was this relationship that raised my brow.
Why did Samson share his sacred secret with the vixen—Delilah? A secret so dear, that his life depended upon keeping it private. Yet he tells Delilah, and by doing so, is taken captive. His eyes are gored out and he's sentenced to be sacrificed to the Philistine god—Dagon.
I imagined Delilah, armed with nothing more than her exquisite beauty, and cunning deceit, enticing the lustful Samson by pushing him beyond the limits of their love making. Why else would the Nazarite give up the key to his great strength, unless lured by forbidden, erotic desires?
Like a shark smelling blood in the water, I became driven to write this untold story. It's points a view are through the eyes of Samson, and a Philistine scribe—Mizar, whose given the task of writing upon parchment the events of Samson's life.
THE BRUDER BROTHERS - A SHORT STORY OF UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES.
SHORT STORY PUBLISHED ON NEILPERRYGORDON.COM BLOG.
From the pages of the The Forward comes the real lives of struggling immigrants, as described in letters to the editor. In the year 1906, the popular Yiddish newspaper reached more than a half-million Jews struggling to make their way in New York’s Lower East Side. Each week, the paper ran a popular advice column titled—A Bintel Brief.
The column spoke to the thousands of Jews who flocked from Eastern Europe, seeking a new life and freedom from the burgeoning oppression, destined to overtake their homeland. At the same time, it assisted those struggling with their new circumstances, in one of the most overcrowded neighborhoods in the world.
The paper's editor was the renown Abraham Cahan, who offered advice in his column on all kinds of personal problems. The letters provided a fascinating glimpse into Jewish life at the turn of the century, and spoke to the issues central to the common experiences of these immigrants.
The Bruder Brothers is a short story based on one letter written by a young man who impregnates his sweetheart in Warsaw, Poland. He leaves for America with a promise to send for her once he’s settled. But unfortunately, as you will read, his plans are proof of the idiom—Be careful what you wish for.
I’ve selected this interesting letter, and took the liberty of adding a fictional backstory and particulars to the lives of the participants. I hope you enjoy my tale from A Bintel Brief.
