We are often told that watching too much TV is bad for our brain, while reading a book is good for us. But is there any truth to this accepted wisdom? After all, there are definitely badly written books and some really excellent TV shows. Can this claim in fact be backed up by science?

Regarding reading, a number of studies have shown that it certainly has many positive effects on the body, including reducing stress (see the chart on the right), increasing language skills in children, and stopping your brain function from decreasing with age.

And TV? One study from Japan showed that the more TV children watched, the less well they performed in language tests and the more aggressive they became. A separate study also found that watching just three-and-a-half hours of TV per day resulted in memory and language problems in adults over 50.

Much of this is likely due to the fact that reading is an active activity that requires creative engagement with the text, while TV encourages people to "switch off" their brains as they sit back and watch.

The science, it seems, is clear. Turn off the TV and pick up a book!

常有人說，看太多電視對大腦不好，而閱讀對我們有益。但是這個廣為大眾接納的金玉良言，是真的嗎？畢竟，內容差勁的書籍，和非常優質的電視節目，絕對所在多有。事實上，真的能以科學佐證此宣稱嗎？

以閱讀而言，眾多研究顯示，閱讀絕對能對人體產生許多正面影響，包括減輕壓力（請看右圖）、增進兒童的語言能力，防止大腦機能老化。

那麼看電視呢？日本某項研究顯示，兒童看越多電視，語言測驗的表現就會越差，行為也會越來越有侵略性。另一項研究則顯示，每天只看三個半小時的電視，就會對50歲以上成人的記憶力和語言能力造成問題。

這樣的研究結果，很有可能是因為，閱讀是屬於需要與文字進行創意互動的積極活動，而電視只會鼓勵大家「關閉」大腦功能，因為只需要悠閒的坐著觀賞。

科學似乎明顯驗證了答案。所以，請關掉電視，拿起書本閱讀！