Storytellers and their audiences have known for millennia that stories enhance emotional development and social cohesion. However rigorous scientific methods have struggled to prove that school libraries, teacher librarians and school reading programs are helping young people develop academic, social and emotional skills. This presentation provides evidence that neuroscience can deliver that proof.

By 2008 neuroscientists had recognised the link between regions of the brain collectively known as the Default Mode Network (DMN) and the processes required in the comprehension of narratives. Since then naturalistic stimuli, such as stories, have become a popular method for studying the relationship between the DMN and human cognition, inadvertently providing an abundance of evidence identifying the important role of stories in shaping human personality and behaviour.

Yet neuroscience rarely acknowledges the significance of narratives in this relationship so valuable empirical evidence which supports the pivotal role of stories in child and adolescent development is at risk of being overlooked.

This presentation revisits the role of narratives in neuroscience through a different lens – that of the teacher librarian. Participants will gain a new perspective on the importance of reading for pleasure and be introduced to evidence from 21^st century neuroscience which demonstrates:

• The impact of stories on social and emotional development.
• How stories create a growth mindset and safe learning environments, and improve decision making, teamwork, creativity and empathy.
• The role of daydreaming in comprehension.
• How educators can cultivate reading for pleasure amongst their students.
• The differing brain responses to fiction and factual accounts.

Most importantly, participants will learn how neuroscience confirms that reading fiction can have a beneficial effect on resilience and wellbeing in young adults.