I’ve talked a bit about the health benefits of writing, but what does reading do to the human body? Luckily the fine folks at the University of Virginia Library have put together an infographic on just that topic.

During the first stages of reading, the tactile senses are engaged, and people enjoy things like that book smell. Then people begin to experience auditory and visual hallucinations. Readers become entwined with the book’s narrative. Though some of the stages listed by the folks at UVA are a bit tongue-in-cheek, the graphic presents an optimistic overview of how people’s bodies and minds respond to reading.

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Image Attribution: University of Virginia Library, “What Happens One Hour (and More) after Opening a Book,” Accessed 31 January 2017, https://i1.wp.com/news.library.virginia.edu/files/2015/09/WHAOAB.jpg?ssl=1