Lovers of literature can rejoice: a new study combines the humanities and neuroscience to take a look at what effects reading a novel can have on the brain. Researchers say exploring a book can not only change your perspective, but also it can change your mind – at least for a few days.

The researchers, from Emory University in Atlanta, GA, published their findings in the journal Brain Connectivity.

Neuroscientist Gregory Berns, lead author and director of Emory’s Center for Neuropolicy, says:

“Stories shape our lives and in some cases help define a person. We want to understand how stories get into your brain, and what they do to it.”

To investigate the inner workings of the novel-reading mind, the researchers recruited 21 undergraduates from Emory, who were instructed to read a thriller written by Robert Harris in 2003, titled Pompeii.

Based on the real-life eruption of Mount Vesuvius in ancient Italy, Berns explains that the narrative “follows a [fictional] protagonist, who is outside the city of Pompeii and notices steam and strange things happening around the volcano.”

While the protagonist tries to save the woman he loves back in Pompeii, the volcano continues to erupt, and meanwhile others in the city do not recognize the signs, Berns says.

“It was important to us that the book had a strong narrative line,” he explains, so that the study participants would read a book with an intriguing plot.