At the speed the microcontroller runs you wouldn't be able to perceive what was actually being received. The LED could be flashing on and off but due to POV you can't see it. Give the standard DigitalReadSerial example a whirl (below)
/*
DigitalReadSerial
Reads a digital input on pin 2, prints the result to the serial monitor
This example code is in the public domain.
*/
void setup() {
Serial.begin(9600);
pinMode(2, INPUT);
}
void loop() {
int sensorValue = digitalRead(2);
Serial.println(sensorValue, DEC);
}