Spark

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Now, it is a universal fact that exercise is good for you. It’s been said and done so what’s so different about this book? Well, 'Spark' dives deeper and attempts to find out the effect of exercise on the brain. The book provides a detailed explanation of how different parts of the brain work on a biological level to carry out the everyday functions and what part of the brain is responsible for different tasks. We get to learn how the brain is able to function at a cellular level like how the neurons communicate with each other to carry the signal that governs our actions. It was interesting to know how the role of different neurotransmitters and how exercise helps to balance them out. Ratey gets the writing here off on a good foot, with a very well-written intro. He's got a great writing style; that's both interesting and engaging. Unfortunately, science books with good flow like this are fairly hit-or-miss, in my experience... Did you know you can beat stress, lift your mood, fight memory loss, sharpen your intellect, and function better than ever simply by elevating your heart rate and breaking a sweat? The evidence is incontrovertible: Aerobic exercise physically remodels our brains for peak performance. What I love about this book is the way he explains everything in scientific detail--no oversimplification or handwaving. The explanation of the stress response really brought together and cleared up a few other things I had read about how stress affects your body. Now I feel like I really understand it. He gives the full story, yet the style is engaging and never obfuscated. This is the best thing I've read in months.

Exercise counteracts the natural decline of dopamine, the key neurotransmitter in the motivation and motor systems. When you move, you’re inherently boosting motivation by strengthening the connections between dopamine neurons, while at the same time guarding against Parkinson’s. This really underscores the idea that if you’re not busy living, your body will be busy dying. The book then dives into the damaging effects of the modern sedentary lifestyle and goes into dozens of studies presenting positive effects of exercise on learning, stress management, anxiety, depression, ADHD, addiction, hormonal changes, and aging related conditions such as Alzheimer's Disease. Every single one of these conditions can be massively improved through exercise. p. 103 overcoming fear: "While we can't erase the original fear memory, can't remove old memory, we can essentially drown it out by creating a new memory and reinforcing it. By building up parallel circuitry to the fear memory, the brain creates a neutral alternative to the expected anxiety, learning that everything is OK. by wiring in the correct interpretation, the trigger is disconnected from the typical response, weakening the associating, between, say, seeing a spider and experiencing terror and a racing heart. Scientists call it reattribution."I get up and do a couple of laps around the lake near my house. I listen to noisy birds and croaky frogs. Finally, I don't go on Facebook first thing in the morning. Caution - don't read this book if you don't like to move. Because this book will motivate you get moving and hit gym consistently. Book is written in most convincing form that we will never think about impact of exercise on our body and brain in same way again.

Dr. John J. Ratey, M.D., is an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and has a private practice in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I enjoyed reading in detail about what goes on in the brain during various kinds of exercises performed regularly, as well as the overall body benefits. The preventive effects of neural degeneration have been outstanding. Exercise helps with alleviating the effects of stress, it helps with focus and with curbing withdrawal effects of addiction. What I aim to do here is to deliver in plain English the inspiring science connecting exercise and the brain and to demonstrate how it plays out in the lives of real people. I want to cement the idea that exercise has a profound impact on cognitive abilities and mental health. It is simply one of the best treatments we have for most psychiatric problems..."I'm torn on the number of stars I want to give this book. I love the message of the book and it has truly changed the way I think about exercise! = 4/5 stars. But, as a non-scientist, I felt bogged down by the (loooong) sections that tried to explain how certain processes work in the brain. = 2/3 stars. He "proves" his theories with all the scientific stuff, but I'd honestly rather just take his word for it than have him try to explain it. Even though I listened to every word, I pretty much still had to take his word for it, because I didn't understand what he was explaining. What I did like was the case studies, especially of the school in the first chapter. At this school, P.E. grades are based on effort, not skill, as determined by heart rate monitors. As a slow and uncoordinated athlete (he he) I embrace that concept!! Ratey goes in depth with research and science and explains the most complex parts and functions of brain, different neurotransmitters and different issues such as stress, anxiety, depression, attention deficit, addiction aging, hormonal changes and many more unfamiliar details about effects of exercise, everything written in well organized and in easy- read way that makes the reader not to put this book down. It lifts your mood. More neurotransmitters, neurotrophins, and connectivity shore up the hippocampus against the atrophy associated with depression and anxiety. And a number of studies have shown that keeping our mood up reduces our chances of developing dementia. The evidence applies not only to clinical depression but also to general attitude. Staying mobile also allows us to stay involved, keep up with people, and make new friends; social connections are important in elevating and sustaining mood.

Neuroscientists have just begun studying exercise’s impact within brain cells — at the genes themselves. Even there, in the roots of our biology, they’ve found signs of the body’s influence on the mind. It turns out that moving our muscles produces proteins that travel through the bloodstream and into the brain, where they play pivotal roles in the mechanisms of our highest thought processes. They bear names such as insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and they provide an unprecedented view of the mind-body connection. It’s only in the past few years that neuroscientists have begun to describe these factors and how they work, and each new discovery adds awe-inspiring depth to the picture. There’s still much we don’t understand about what happens in the microenvironment of the brain, but I think what we do know can change people’s lives. And maybe society itself..." p. 65 "Two neurotransmitters put the brain on alert: norepinephrine arouses attention, then dopamine sharpens and focuses it." Imbalance => ADD people can focus only under stress--need norepinephrine to get dopamine. Thus the project firefighters who are really arsonists.

The author changed from laymens terms and delightful stories to prove his points to writing as if the book were an academic paper to be published in a neurological journal, and it got very tedious very fast. Being well schooled in neurology I forced myself to continue reading to the end but I am certain most readers would not understand half of what is said in the last half of the book. The next chapter in this book examines the affect of exercise on the brain to enhance learning. Here the science is explained. There is a lot of scientific jargon used to explain how this improves the brain’s potential for processing new information. The science used here seems to be repeated in each of the subsequent chapters dealing with Stress, Anxiety, Depression, Attention Deficit, Addiction and Aging. In a nutshell it seems that exercise increases the blood flow to the brain allowing the brain to build and strengthen the connections it needs to deal with these conditions. The author uses the term “Miracle-Gro” to describe this effect. Exercise is another tool at your disposal, and it's handy because it's something you can prescribe for yourself." First published in 2008 by PhD and M.D. John J. Ratey, associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and author of many other awesome books. As a gym teacher, I am all about movement. I want my kids to be active and engaged for as much of class as possible. But even though I was already on the exercise bandwagon, I had no idea how extensive the benefits of exercise really are. In Spark, John Ratey explains why the benefits of exercise to the heart, lungs, and muscles, are secondary to the benefits of exercise to the brain. The first chapter is the most engaging, where he shows how a few rogue school systems boosted test scores and lowered behavioral issues by introducing morning exercise programs. One school scored in the top 5 in the world in math and science.