Paper vs digital reading: Manga in books may be better comprehended

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2026-06-04 04:00

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Japanese researchers suggest that reading on paper might help us understand books better than reading them on a digital device, especially when it comes to mostly image-based books, such as manga. The researchers hooked a group of participants up to a brain scanner, and then had them first read the first half of a manga on paper, then the second half via a digital device. The participants were also asked to answer questions on each half after finishing. The team says the participants took longer to think of the answers after reading on a tablet, compared to reading on paper. Additionally, areas of the brain - known to be related to language - that were activated during reading on paper were significantly less active during the second half of the experiment.

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Journal/
conference: PLOS One

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: The University of Tokyo, Japan

Funder: This research received funding from COAMIX INC. This research was also supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists (no. 24K16045 to KU) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan.

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