Is reading every day good for your brain in the long run?

Brain scans show that reading engages a broad network of brain regions simultaneously: visual areas at the back of the brain, language areas on the left side of the cortex, and the cerebellum. That makes it one of the richer cognitive activities you can do on a daily basis, although this does not yet say anything directly about long-term effects.

People who engaged in many cognitively enriching activities early in life, including reading, appear to be more resilient against cognitive decline in later life. This has been studied in people with multiple sclerosis, a condition in which brain damage occurs from a young age. Those who had a large vocabulary and were intellectually active continued to function well for longer despite considerable brain damage. This is explained through the concept of 'cognitive reserve': the brain is better able to compensate for damage if it was used intensively earlier in life. However, this is observational evidence: people who read a lot differ from people who do not in more ways than one, and a direct causal relationship has not yet been established.

In people who already have dementia, reading is mentioned in a review article in JAMA as a non-pharmacological approach that may help to alleviate symptoms or slow progression. This is a recommendation within a review, not a randomised study that tested reading as a specific intervention. The supporting evidence is therefore limited.

In summary: daily reading activates many brain regions simultaneously and is associated in observational research with less cognitive decline, but a proven causal effect in healthy people over the long term has not yet been firmly established. The indications are encouraging, not conclusive.