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The Social Brain and the Neuroscience of Storytelling

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Teaching Science Students to Communicate: A Practical Guide
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Abstract

Why is storytelling so powerful? Why do we remember stories so easily? Research suggests that our brains are socially and emotionally hard-wired to absorb stories. Stories help us learn and remember because they generate emotion and empathy. We know that storytelling is a useful and persuasive tool. Now, advances in neuroscience are helping us understand why our brains react differently to stories than they do to non-storied sets of information. As we teach and learn to communicate science, it is important to find stories that make the content alive, emotive, and exciting.

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Correspondence to Carol A. Oliver .

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Oliver, C.A. (2023). The Social Brain and the Neuroscience of Storytelling. In: Rowland, S., Kuchel, L. (eds) Teaching Science Students to Communicate: A Practical Guide. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-91628-2_4

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