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Neurology of Narrative: Our Natural Affinity for Tales
Stories are everywhere. Books, films, tv series. Even board games often have the so-called “flavor”, meaning the attempt of the developer to add depth or background to the item, providing a form of context, usually by stories and descriptions.
Since the beginning, human beings have been prone to tales: from mythology to fairy tales, from fables to campfire stories. They can be used to pass on knowledge and tradition, to explain the world as we know it or simply to entertain. Be it fantastic or realistic, we need narrative.
_Tales Theories _
There is plenty of research focused on understanding the deep-rooted connection between storytelling and the human brain.
- Immersion
Mirror neurons are neurons that fire both when someone acts and when someone observes the same action performed by another. Dr. Greg J. Stephens¹ of Princeton University performed a study to observe brain activity of people listening to a story. He found that the same neurons began to fire in both the brains of the listener and storyteller. This phenomenon is also known as neural coupling.
These neurons are not only active along with those of the storyteller, but actually begin to anticipate, as though they knew what would happen next. During the study he considered different stories and different listeners and found that the more engaging the story, the easier it is for the neurons to syncronyze and foresee.
When we listen to a story, our brains respond as if we are actually living through the events ourselves. The auditory cortex becomes active to process the sounds, while the sensory cortex lights up to visualize details such as sights, smells, tastes, and movement. Even areas associated with perceiving texture through touch become active when reading or hearing certain descriptions. This immersion in the narrative creates a powerful and engaging experience that captures our attention. Stories with a rich and vivid setting help us process them more quickly and become more engaged. ⁷
- Empathy
The already mentioned neural mirroring positively influences social interactions, by strengthening empathy and understanding. Research has shown that the brain networks involved in understanding stories overlap with those used when navigating social interactions and trying to discern the thoughts and emotions of others. ² This means that our brain perceives and analyze stories as if we were actually living them.
Stories enable us to understand perspectives different from our own, by immersing us in experiences and situations we might never encounter in real life. Folk tales and fables have long been used to transmit moral lessons, allowing people to share believes and build a sense of community. Storytelling also encodes cultural history, as oral traditions pass down lineages and traditional knowledge.³ One way or the other, stories allow us to develop meaninful connections and share experiences with other humans.
- Solitude
Humans are social animals. Being ostracized by our peers was often a lethal threat in the past. As a result, people can experience a visceral fear of rejection. To protect us, our mind analyzes (sometimes even excessively) our interactions to ensure that our past, present, or future interactions are going well. Stories allow us to rehearse social scenarios from safety of our minds. ³
Moreover, narrative satisfies social needs through imaginary interactions and adventures. Even when done alone, reading still activates the same neural networks that are engaged during actual social interactions. ³
As we immerse ourself in a story, our pituitary gland releases oxytocin, often known as the “love” hormone. This creates a feeling of intimacy and connection with the characters, even if we have no direct physical or personal contact with them.
Dr. Paul Zak of Claremont Graduate University suggests that the amount of oxytocin the brain releases can indicate whether or not someone will be inclined to donate money to a cause associated with a story. ⁶
- Order
Our brain dislikes chaos. We seek structure and have evolved to specialize in recognizing patterns. When a story is incomplete, the striatum triggers the nucleus accumbens to release dopamine, creating a craving for closure. ³ Cliffhangers intentionally withhold resolution to drive us to seek answers. The strong desire to uncover missing information is what keeps us glued to the pages.
Researchers at UC Davis’s Center for Neuroscience used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study the brains of 36 volunteers as they listened to a series of short stories and recalled them a day later. ⁴ The images showed activity in their hippocampus both when learning and when recounting stories with a cohesive narrative. However, if a two-part storyline wasn’t cohesive, the hippocampus didn’t activate. The study’s results indicate that the hippocampus does more than just merge memories from similar experiences; it plays a crucial role in crafting cohesive narratives that connect distant events into memorable stories.
While other brain regions are likely involved in the process of forming cohesive narrative memories, the hippocampus appears to bring all the pieces of a story together in a way that makes it easy for storytellers to recall and retell their tales.⁵
The hippocampus organizes information into coherent narratives, helping us detect patterns and turn fragmented details into meaningful stories. This process satisfies our brain’s desire for order, structure, and resolution.
The left side of the brain is specialized in dealing with facts and data. Areas dedicated to language and analysis are located in this hemisphere. The right side, on the other hand, is associated with creativity and intuition. Whereas the left side only focuses on picking out certain patterns, the righe hemosphere helps us see the bigger picture.
Stories engage both hemispheres — information stimulates the left brain, and the story’s structure activates the right brain. This dual engagement increases neural activity, helping us make new connections and integrate new knowledge into our previous experiences.
- Emotion and memory
As mentioned, stories stimulate hormone production. Effective stories evoke emotions, which enhance our ability to form memories. According to Morris et al., the emotional content of stories increases the likelihood that we will act on the information provided. ⁸
Emotions signal to the brain that an experience is significant. The information we are recieving is then stored into deeper regions like the cerebellum. The more we connect with a narrative, the more likely we are to remember the details.
Empathy, emotion, learning, memory. Tales significally impact all of us. Today, more than ever, we are immersed in narratives. Storytelling is no longer limited to books and TV series, it is also used in marketing and education. It enhances learning, helps us sculpt details into memory, fosters empathy, and strengthens our sense of community.
We create stories and, in turn, stories shape us.
Bibliography ¹ Stephens, Greg J et al. “Speaker-listener neural coupling underlies successful communication.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America vol. 107,32 (2010) ² Annie Murphy Paul “Your brain on fiction” New York Times (2012) ³ Jonathan H. Westover “The Power of Storytelling: How Our Brains Are Wired for Narratives” Human Capital Leadership Review (2024) ⁴ Brendan I. Cohn-Sheehy et al. “The hippocampus constructs narrative memories across distant events” Current Biology, Volume 31, Issue 22 (2021) ⁵ Christopher Bergland How Storytelling Narratives Come Together Inside the Brain (2021) ⁶ Paul J. Zak “Why Inspiring Stories Make Us React: The Neuroscience of Narrative” Cerebrum (2015) ⁷ Nico Broers et al. “Enhanced recognition of memorable pictures in ultra-fast RSVP” Psychon Bull Rev (2018) ⁸ Brandi S. Morris et al Stories vs. facts: triggering emotion and action-taking on climate change Climatic Change (2019)