From a research paper by Barry Gull in latest volume from First Monday:
The way the brain is adapting to meet the new medium of electronic text is only beginning to become understood. Despite the fact that skimming and jumping around from place to place within text is not limited to online reading, this type of reading appears to be the most common type of reading online.Indeed, in recent years researchers have called attention to the substantial differences between reading on screens online and in print, and have been calling for more recognition among educators about the cognitive differences between the two types of reading (Burke and Rowsell, 2008; Leu, et al., 2008; Mokhtari, et al., 2009). While there is not yet enough published scientific research to make many definite conclusions about the effect of online reading on learning and the brain, it is known that the process of reading on screen tends to be cognitively different from the process of reading on paper, in terms of brain activation, the contextual environment, cognitive focus, comprehension, and reading speed.
