Scientists at the University of Liverpool (UK) have shown that the way that playwright William Shakespeare used language causes the brain to get "excited" in a peculiar way.
Specifically, the English author's custom of converting verbs into nouns and nouns into verbs increases the dramatic effect of words without the reader ceasing to perceive their meaning. "Shakespeare surprises the brain, catches it off guard in such a way that it produces a burst of activity," explain the researchers, who studied the brain activity of about twenty subjects while they were reading the work of the British writer. For this reason, they conclude, his texts leave "an indelible mark".
