Annotated Bibliography January 2026 Capstone: Your Brain on Poetry
Annotated Bibliography
Your Brain on Poetry: Reading, Writing, Listening, and Recitation
Neuroscience of Poetry
Zeman et al. (2013) — ANCHOR STUDY
Zeman, Adam, Fraser Milton, Alicia Smith, and Rick Rylance. "By Heart: An fMRI Study of Brain Activation by Poetry and Prose." Journal of Consciousness Studies 20, no. 9-10 (2013): 132-158.
Summary: This foundational fMRI study examined brain activation in expert readers engaging with poetry and prose. Key findings directly relevant to your four modalities:
• Reading: Poetry activates regions "associated with introspection, autobiographical memory, prospection, ToM [theory of mind], and the default mode"—the right cingulate gyrus, left superior temporal gyrus, both hippocampi, and right temporal pole.
• Listening/Emotional response: The emotional power of poetry "was related to activity in regions linked to the emotional response to music"—the same regions that produce "shivers down the spine."
• Recitation ("By Heart"): "Self-selected poetry activated the classical reading areas weakly, the inferior parietal lobes strongly, probably because these passages were known 'by heart.'" This is crucial: memorized poetry uses DIFFERENT brain pathways than reading poetry—it's stored as procedural/motor memory.
• Right hemisphere: "Regions of the right hemisphere are engaged by poetry"—rhythm, imagery, emotional valence.
Why this matters for Alzheimer's: The discovery that recited poetry uses different neural pathways (inferior parietal lobes, motor systems) than read poetry (hippocampus, medial temporal lobes) explains why recitation is preserved longest—motor/procedural memory systems are affected last.
Liu et al. (2015)
Liu, Siyuan, et al. "Brain Activity and Connectivity During Poetry Composition: Toward a Multidimensional Model of the Creative Process." Human Brain Mapping 36, no. 9 (2015): 3351-3372. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4581594/
Summary: fMRI study of brain activity during poetry composition (writing modality). Key findings:
• Poetry writing "imposes additional demands on language areas" beyond recitation—selecting words that contribute to "building meaning, sound and imagery."
• Activates: dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (including cingulate motor area), amygdala (emotional expression), hippocampus, parahippocampal gyrus, and retrosplenial cortex (autobiographical material, visuospatial imagery).
• Medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) "supports general execution of goal-oriented, spontaneous cognitive processes."
Jacobs (2015)
Jacobs, Arthur M. "Neurocognitive Poetics: Methods and Models for Investigating the Neuronal and Cognitive-Affective Bases of Literature Reception." Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 9 (2015): 186. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2015.00186/full
Summary: Comprehensive theoretical framework for the emerging field of "neurocognitive poetics." Provides the academic foundation for studying how the brain processes literature. Cites Zeman and others, discusses how poetry activates autobiographical memory, introspection, and the default mode network. Notes that "poetry presents to the brain a system which is temporally and rhythmically hierarchical... matched to the hierarchical organization of the brain itself."
Shewell (2020)
Shewell, Christina. "Poetry, Voice, Brain, and Body." Voice and Speech Review 14, no. 3 (2020): 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1080/23268263.2020.1743502
Summary: Examines how poetry and voice connect through the "Triune Brain" model (reptilian/survival, limbic/emotional, neocortex/cognitive). Explains why poetry "goes deep"—particularly relevant to your recitation modality. Proposes a "brain-voicing links" model showing how recitation engages motor systems and procedural memory, which are more resilient in Alzheimer's. Includes practical applications for voice therapy.
Abbas (2025)
Abbas, Muhammad Sohail. "The Alchemy of Words: How Poetry Heals the Mind and Soul." Creative Therapeutic 1, no. 1 (2025). https://doi.org/10.54963/ct.v1i1.1328
Summary: Comprehensive review article synthesizing neuroscience research on poetry's therapeutic effects. Covers:
• How poetry "rewires the brain"—metaphors activate corresponding sensory cortices (visual metaphors light up occipital lobe, tactile metaphors stimulate touch centers)
• Rhythmic verse "can synchronise neural oscillations, promoting a meditative, regulated state of mind"
• EEG studies showing poetry induces theta waves (deep relaxation, creativity) and alpha waves (calm focus)
• Dopamine release from pattern recognition in rhyme and rhythm
Poetry and Dementia Programs
Glazner & Kaplan (2018) — JAMA Publication
Glazner, Gary, and David B. Kaplan. "The Alzheimer's Poetry Project." JAMA 320, no. 22 (2018): 2294-2295. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30535199/
Summary: Peer-reviewed publication in the Journal of the American Medical Association describing the Alzheimer's Poetry Project, founded in 2003. Uses call-and-response poetry recitation with dementia patients. Key clinical observations:
• Patients in late-stage dementia can complete familiar rhymes and poems
• One man, seemingly unaware of surroundings, "popped open" his eyes when Glazner began "I shot an arrow into the air" and completed: "It fell to earth, I knew not where."
• Participants can learn NEW patterns, showing they "are able to learn and make new synaptic connections"
• Program has reached 62,500+ participants across 36 US states and internationally; NEA "best practice" designation
Glazner (2014)
Glazner, Gary. Dementia Arts: Celebrating Creativity in Elder Care. Baltimore: Health Professions Press, 2014.
Summary: Practical guide to using poetry with dementia patients. Includes techniques for call-and-response recitation, creating poems collaboratively, and using music with poetry. Website: https://www.alzpoetry.com/
Poets Writing Through Dementia
Jack Gilbert (1925–2012) — Alzheimer's Disease
Gilbert, Jack. Collected Poems. New York: Knopf, 2012. (Pulitzer Prize finalist, 2013)
Summary: Gilbert was diagnosed with Alzheimer's around 2002 but continued attempting to write even as verbal skills declined. A Poetry Foundation tribute describes how "the lines in red ink spiraled around on the page, but the words couldn't be deciphered." When a doctor tested his mental acuity by pointing to a pen, Gilbert responded: "That's the thing you write poems with." Asked if he still had the desire to write, he answered clearly: "Sure."
Significant poems:
• "Failing and Flying" — On the beauty of what we attempt, even when we fail
• "A Brief for the Defense" — "We must have the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless furnace of this world."
• https://poets.org/poet/jack-gilbert | https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/jack-gilbert
Robert Bly (1926–2021) — Dementia (14 years)
Bly, Robert. Collected Poems. New York: W.W. Norton, 2018.
———. Stealing Sugar from the Castle: Selected Poems. W.W. Norton, 2013.
———. Like the New Moon I Will Live My Life. White Pine Press, 2015.
Summary: Bly lived with dementia for 14 years, yet in 2015—after his diagnosis—he gave a reading at the AWP conference. His daughter Mary recalled him watching a video of himself and saying "I like that guy! I wish I knew him"—demonstrating both awareness of loss and preservation of humor. Author of over 30 poetry collections, translated Rumi and Rilke, founded the men's movement with Iron John.
• https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/robert-bly
Eugenia Zukerman — Alzheimer's Disease (diagnosed 2017)
Zukerman, Eugenia. Like Falling Through a Cloud: A Lyrical Memoir of Coping with Forgetfulness, Confusion, and a Dreaded Diagnosis. East Hampton: East End Press, 2019.
Summary: Renowned flutist and CBS Sunday Morning arts correspondent who turned to poetry after her diagnosis at age 72. Her lyrical memoir uses poetry to document her experience with cognitive decline. She wrote: "I want people to know that it's not the end of the world if you have cognitive decline." The book demonstrates how creative expression can continue and even flourish after diagnosis.
• https://www.npr.org/2019/11/09/777569730/in-like-falling-through-a-cloud-eugenia-zukerman-explores-her-changing-mind
David Keller & Eloise Bruce — CADASIL (rare inherited dementia)
Bruce, Eloise, and David Keller. Scud Clouds: Poems. Princeton: Ragged Sky Press, 2020.
Summary: A married couple, both poets, who wrote side-by-side poems documenting David's diagnosis with CADASIL (Cerebral Autosomal Dominant Arteriopathy with Subcortical Infarcts and Leukoencephalopathy). The poems are "neither collaborations nor strict call and response but rather a subtler sinuous pas de deux." David continues to write despite difficulty with the computer. The book shows how two people can navigate dementia together through art, with "love, warmth and laughter" alongside "darkness and loss."
From the foreword: "We decided to make these poems public because there are so many families being affected by dementia of all kinds, and, having had this experience, we know how difficult it is for people even now to speak about it."
• https://raggedsky.com/scud-clouds.html | https://curecadasil.org/david-and-eloise-cadasil-journey-expressed-through-poetry/