How Reading Before Bed Benefits Your Brain and Sleep

Reading before bed is an age-old tradition. For some, it’s an essential part of winding down – a moment of calm before sleep. For others, it’s a nostalgic ritual they left behind in childhood.

According to our Sleep Survey, nearly 1 in 3 people still enjoy diving into a book or magazine before drifting off. But what makes this habit so popular? Is it simply relaxing, or is there something deeper at play – something that benefits our sleep and mental wellbeing?

Let’s explore what happens in the brain when we read before bed, and what the science (and sleep experts) say about it.

It all sounds good in theory, but what does the actual clinical research say? Fortunately, this isn’t just a wellness trend; it’s a habit supported by emerging scientific evidence. While it can be tricky to design a perfect randomised trial for a lifestyle behaviour, a growing number of studies give us a clear picture of the potential benefits.

A 2021 study explored the effect of reading as a nightly habit. Nearly 1,000 participants were randomly assigned to either read a book in bed or refrain from reading for one week. At the end of the trial, 42% of the readers reported that their sleep had improved, compared to only 28% of the non-readers. The researchers concluded that reading before bed can be a simple but effective intervention to improve perceived sleep quality.

And it’s not just about how good your sleep feels – it may affect how long it lasts, too. While staying up late to finish one more chapter can reduce your total sleep time, incorporating a short, calming reading session into your nighttime routine may help you fall asleep faster and stay asleep more consistently. The key is to treat reading as a brief, relaxing ritual, not a midnight page-turning marathon.

There’s also a crucial difference between a real book and a screen. We have concrete evidence that a physical book is far superior for your sleep hygiene. A pivotal 2014 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences compared reading on a light-emitting e-reader (like an iPad) to reading a printed book. The results were clear: screen readers took longer to fall asleep, produced less melatonin, and felt less alert the next morning. The message from the scientific community is consistent – blue light from digital devices disrupts your natural sleep rhythms, and reaching for a paper book (or a non-backlit e-reader) is one of the best things you can do to wind down effectively.

It probably won’t surprise you to learn that reading before you sleep could relax you significantly. A study conducted by the University of Sussex raised a number of participants’ stress levels and then attempted to reduce them. The cognitive neuropsychologist Dr David Lewis found that ‘reading worked best, reducing stress levels by 68 per cent’. It was more effective than listening to music (61%), drinking tea or coffee (54%) and taking a walk (42%). And be honest, what’s more appealing at the end of a long day? It only took 6 minutes for participants’ heart rates to slow and stress levels to be reduced. By getting lost in a book, your mind gets a much-needed break from the cortisol and adrenaline associated with daily stress, allowing your body to relax and prepare for sleep.

This makes perfect sense when you think about it. When you’re lost in good books or compelling novels, your mind is distracted from the daily stresses and worries that cause tension. Stories give your mind a ticket to be somewhere else for a little while. This means you can leave your own troubles behind. Reading also allows your muscles to relax and slows down your breathing, leaving you feeling calmer.

Reading is also a much better alternative to watching TV or scrolling through your phone. Let’s talk about screens. Devices like smartphones, tablets, and the iPad emit blue light, which tricks your brain into thinking it’s daytime. This light can actively suppress the production of melatonin, the hormone that tells your body it’s time for sleep, and can disrupt your natural body clock, or circadian rhythm. This is why mindlessly scrolling a reel or getting lost in social media can lead to sleep problems and insomnia. This state of digital overstimulation is the enemy of rest. This is likely why 30% of Brits prefer to read a book rather than watch TV before bed! Could your go-to pre-sleep habit of reading actually be one of the most effective sleep hygiene practices you can adopt?

As well as opening your eyes to a million other worlds, reading can boost your brainpower. Your brain is a muscle, and just like the rest of the body, it needs a workout to keep it healthy. Reading is more neurologically challenging than simply speaking or processing images. Ken Hugh, PhD, president and director of research at Haskins Laboratories, says, ‘parts of the brain that have evolved for other functions, such as vision, language, and associative learning, connect in a specific neural circuit for reading, which is very challenging’. This means that reading is a great way to work out your brain whilst doing something enjoyable. Every time you read, you are strengthening your brain connectivity and promoting neuroplasticity, which is your brain’s ability to reorganise itself by forming new neural connections.

Another amazing benefit of reading is that it can reduce the risk of developing degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s. A study found that people who engage their brains in cognitive exercises like reading, solving puzzles or playing chess are 2.5 times less likely to develop the illness. This is likely due to the fact that Alzheimer’s is often linked to patients who have limited brain activity. Keeping the brain active seems to be a key factor in staving off cognitive decline. So, reading could not only improve your well-being now but could also have a lasting effect on your health in years to come.

In fact, the world of cognitive science has shown that reading can even improve your memory. Have you ever tried to remember a complex plot or a large cast of characters? You’re essentially using memory techniques without even realising it. Some people even use formal mnemonic devices, like building a ‘memory palace‘, to retain information from non-fiction books. So, that chapter a night might just be doing more than you think.

It’s no surprise that absorbing a creative stimulus increases your own creativity. By reading books, you are able to see things from different perspectives, which broadens your mind. Emeritus Professor at the University of Toronto, Keith E. Stanovich, a leading researcher in the psychology of reading, says in his study, Does Reading Make You Smarter, ‘Certainly, our data demonstrate time and again that print exposure is associated with vocabulary, general knowledge, and verbal skills…’ We could see an improvement in all of these things ourselves just by reading books.

Reading to children is also extremely important, so the benefits of bedtime stories can impact them hugely. Forget screens for a moment. Children are exposed to 50% more words from books than they would be from TV. Reading to your child is the perfect way to enhance their vocabulary without it feeling like a lesson.

Beyond just relaxation, reading can be a powerful form of mindfulness. Think about it: when you’re truly engrossed in a story, you are completely in the present moment. Your worries about tomorrow fade away. This is, in essence, a meditative state. You don’t need to sit cross-legged on a cushion; you can achieve a similar mental quiet just by opening one of your favourite books.

This practice can be a core part of digital fasting, giving your mind a break from the constant ping of notifications. For those who struggle with sleep difficulties, pairing reading with other mindfulness techniques can enhance your bedtime routine. You might try 10 minutes of reading, followed by a guided body scan meditation or some light stretching. Some people even find relief through simple acupressure techniques before they pick up their book. It’s all part of creating a calming transition to sleep and can be more effective than many people realise, almost like a gentle form of therapy you give yourself each night.

As we have discussed, reading influences your brain in many ways. Yet, despite its ability to stimulate the brain, it can also make it sleepy. How is this possible? Well, when you’re reading, your eye muscles are having to quickly scan in a very patterned way, moving from left to right. Not only is this micro eye movement occurring, but so is the focus required to process the words. Because all these smaller movements are happening, the body can become tired as you exercise your eye muscles, eventually leading to your eyes closing altogether.

Another way reading can make you sleepy is if you’re performing the activity in a location associated with sleep, i.e., your bedroom. It can be tempting to snuggle up in your duvet and delve into a good book, but it may result in an accidental descent into your own dreamy world. This happens because your body has conditioned itself to associate that place with sleep. So when your muscles begin to relax, a domino effect may occur as your body slowly enters its sleep cycle against your will! The trick here, if you want to read for longer, is to select a dedicated spot for reading, such as a comfortable chair. Create positive associations, and you should be able to focus for hours. This is a key part of establishing healthy sleep habits.

Finally, reading can also make you a more empathetic person. Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. What better way to improve that skill than by reading from someone else’s point of view? In books, we see the world through another’s eyes and feel their feelings with them. Neuroscientists believe this may be linked to what they call ‘mirror neurons’ in the brain. These neurons fire both when we perform an action and when we see someone else perform that same action. When we read about a character’s experiences, our brains mirror that emotional state, giving us a safe space to practice empathy.

Traditional print books are fantastic because they have zero blue light emission. But let’s be honest, e-readers are incredibly convenient. The good news is that most modern e-readers come with adjustable warm-light settings that filter out the disruptive blue light, making them a perfectly viable option for your bedtime reading ritual. Just be sure to use that setting!

Audiobooks are another wonderful alternative. They allow you to rest your eyes completely while still getting lost in a story. You could even explore story-based podcasts. The key is to avoid the interactive nature of smartphones and tablets, which demand your active engagement and are more likely to lead to that dreaded ‘just one more video’ rabbit hole, ultimately causing daytime sleepiness from a poor night’s rest.

So, when it’s time to wind down, the choice between the glowing screen and the printed page becomes clearer than ever. Our own Sleep Study shows that while most of us default to television or social media, a significant number are rediscovering a quieter, more powerful alternative.

Reading before bed isn’t just a quaint tradition or a simple hobby; it’s one of the most effective, science-backed acts of self-care available to us. It’s an immediate antidote to the day’s stress, a proven method for improving the quality and duration of your sleep, and a long-term investment in your brain’s health and resilience against cognitive decline.

By choosing to read, you’re doing more than just ending your day. You’re giving your mind a sanctuary, your body a signal to rest, and your future self the gift of a sharper, more empathetic brain. You’re consciously crafting a better, healthier tomorrow, one chapter at a time.