The June issue of O, The Oprah Magazine features an article, "Watch This. No - Read It!", which reports on a neuroscience finding of interest for those of us worried about keeping our brains strong. The article reports that reading exercises your brain more than watching the film adaptation of a book or TV reports of news.

Dr. Ken Pugh, president and director of research at Haskins Laboratories (an affiliate of Yale University), notes that reading engages multiple portions of your brain and is more neurobiologically demanding than watching a video or television.  Reading also makes the brain work to comprehend passages and gain insights, according to Maryanne Wolf, director of Tufts University's Center for Reading and Language Research.

The O article reports that reading also benefits your brain by strengthening memory and keeping your learning capacity agile. So this summer, plan to spend some time reading a good book or magazine while you're lounging in the hammock (or reclining on the couch) .