Recent studies using high-tech tools that measure brain activity show that when you read more complicated texts, with words that are unfamiliar or used in unexpected ways, the electrical impulses in your brain increase. In a sense, it’s like a “rocket boost” for your brain, according to Philip Davis, an English professor and one of the team of researchers who are examining this phenomenon at Liverpool University. New vocabulary words set off a spark, so to speak, as your brain tries to “illuminate” the blank space that needs to be filled in with the word’s meaning. Think of the word clarify, which has its origin in the Latin word clarus (“bright, distinct”). The light that goes on in your brain when you solve a puzzle or find an answer to a problem isn’t just metaphorical – there’s actually energy flowing around in this process, just as when electrical power lights up a lamp bulb.

Many studies have also shown that when multiple areas of the brain are active at once, a person’s ability to learn and remember are increased. The Liverpool University project clearly shows that when people read more difficult texts, it stimulates activity in more than one segment of the brain. When your brain is fully awake and active, that’s the best time to learn new vocabulary words. As soon as you come across a word you don’t know, look up its meaning and pronunciation, and spend a few minutes saying it out loud and practicing it. If you can’t do that, jot the word down and look it up as soon as possible. Take advantage of all the energy that’s available to you to focus on adding that word to your working vocabulary, and you’ll find that it’s easier to remember in the future.

What’s more, each new word that you learn and are able to remember will help you increase your reading speed. One of the things that slows down people who want to be speed readers is a lack of vocabulary words. If you have to stop and look words up all the time, you’ll naturally read more slowly. Worse, if you skip over words you don’t know, you might misunderstand the text, and that will cost you even more time as you clear up confusion, or reread the text, or both.

So the next time you’re looking for something to read, make your selection from classical literature, or a work of nonfiction on a topic new to you, or anything else that you know will challenge you with new words, and you’ll soon find that both your vocabulary skills and your speed reading skills will improve.

Cross-posted at the 7 Speed Reading blog.