9 Quotes From Spark: The Revolutionary Science of Exercise and The Brain
Book Review: Spark the Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain
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Transcript of Book Review: Spark the Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain
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Book Review by Pat Moran: Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain
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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.
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About the Book:
In SPARK, author, John Ratey, MD embarks upon a fascinating journey through the mind-body connection, illustrating that exercise is
truly our best defense against everything from depression
to ADD to addiction to menopause to Alzheimer's.
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About the Authors:
John Ratey, M.D. is a clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard
Medical School. He is the author of numerous bestselling and
groundbreaking books, including Driven to Distraction and A User's
Guide to the Brain. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where
he has a private practice. Eric Hagerman is a former editor of
Popular Science and Outside. His work has been featured in The Best
American Sports Writing 2004, Men's Journal, and PLAY.
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Intro: Making the Connection
The book begins by explaining why exercise makes us feel better. It says:
• “We assume it’s because we’re burning off stress or reducing muscle tension or boosting endorphins, and we
leave it at that.”
• “But the real reason we feel so good when we get our blood pumping is that it makes the brain function at its
best.”
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–Author, John J. Ratey
“I often tell my patients that the point of exercise is to build and condition the brain.”
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The Mind-Body Connection:
The book says that our culture treats the mind and body as if they are separate entities.
It argues, “to keep our brains at peak performance, our bodies need to work hard.”
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What You’ll Learn in Spark:
In Spark, the authors demonstrate how and why
physical activity is crucial to the way we think and feel.
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They explain the science of how exercise cues the building blocks of learning in the brain; how it affects mood, anxiety & attention; how it guards against stress and reverses some of the effects of aging in the brain; and how, in women, it can help stave off the sometimes tumultuous effects of
hormonal changes.
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Why Should You Care About How Your Brain Works?
Its running the show.
Right now, the front of your brain is firing signals about what you’re reading & how
much of it you soak up has a lot to do with whether there
is a proper balance of neurochemicals and growth
factors to bind neurons together.
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Why Should You Care How Your Brain Works with Exercise?
Exercise has a documented, dramatic effect on these
essential ingredients. It sets the stage, when you sit down to learn something new, that stimulation strengthens the relevant connections; with
practice, the circuit develops definition, as if you’re
wearing down a path through a forest.
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The importance of making these connections carries over to all issues the authors deal with in this book.
• In order to cope with anxiousness, for instance, you need to let certain well-worn paths grow over while your blaze
alternate trails.
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Benefits of Interactions Between Your Brain & Body:
By understanding such interactions between your
body and your brain, you can manage the process, handle
problems, and get your mind humming along smoothly.
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Book’s Purpose:
The book’s main purpose is to get readers to understand
how physical activity improves brain function and
to get them motivated enough to include it in their life in a positive way, rather
than think of it as something they should do.
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The Challenge:
In October of 2000, researchers from Duke University made the New York Times with a study showing that exercise is better than sertraline (Zoloft) at treating
depression. What great news!
Unfortunately, it was buried on page 14 of the Health & Fitness section.
If exercise came in pill form, it would be plastered across the front page, hailed as the blockbuster drug of the
century.
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Furthermore… Additional studies demonstrate the importance of this book’s
findings…
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1. ABC World News reports that exercise might stab off Alzheimer’s disease in rats;
2. CNN flashes stats on the ever-expanding obesity crisis;
3. the New York Times investigates the practice of treating bipolar kids with costly drugs that are only marginally
effective yet carry horrendous side effects.
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In a nutshell:• This book delivers in plain
English the inspiring science connecting exercise and the brain
& to demonstrate how it plays out in the lives of real people.
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–Author, John J. Ratey
“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.”
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For more information on Health & Fitness, visit Patrick Moran’s website below:
patrickmoranfitness.com
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Or, follow on Twitter
@PatrickMoran89
for industry news & updates.