Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain | John J. Ratey

Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain | John J. Ratey | A Concise Act of Appreciation

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Spark: The Revolut...

	Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain John J. Ratey Little, Brown and Company, 2008 - 304 pages average customer review:based on 35 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Regular Aerobic Exercise Helps School Performance and Improves Mental Performance During Stress, Anxiety, Depression, and Aging

I've read a lot about the brain in the last decade, and I thought this book was the most helpful summary I've seen of what to do differently. The thinking person is the person who aerobically exercises regularly.

Spark is an excellent summary of the brain research during the last decade or so that has added to our knowledge of how regular aerobic exercise stimulates better and more effective mental activity. Dr. Ratey considers the impact of such exercise on school-age children . . . and adults with stress, anxiety, depression, attention deficits, hormonal changes, and aging bodies. He also recommends a general exercise regime that seems to optimize what we know today from these studies.

The essence of the book can be found in the observation that optimal brain functioning requires plenty of blood, the right nutrients, a balance of body chemicals designed to help the brain operate, and an ability to grow new cells and connections in the brain. Each of these elements is helped by regular aerobic exercise. The results are often measurable within a few weeks.

So if you thought that aerobic exercise was simply about looking and feeling good, you're wrong. It's also about thinking well and being able to learn. There are longevity and other quality of life benefits as well . . . including reduced incidence of disease and less chance of dementia.

The book also explores that you don't have to do a tremendous amount of exercise to get most of the benefits.

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A Concise Act of Appreciation

I like this book because it presents the research in a more objective manner than other popular press science books that I have read over the years. This book is concise and carefully refrains from sensationalism of the link between exercise and the brain. It describes groups of studies within a certain context and it presents the findings in a way that readers will be able to discern between "evidence" and "law".

This book was fun to read because much of the content of this book contradicts my outdated education on the brain, how it develops, and how it freezes from further significant development around hormonal changes as teens. Additionally, while Piaget may describe behavior well, the inferences made about physical brain development from his ideas are also rendered obselete.

As a matter of serendipity, I also read this book at a time when I was around 15 weeks of regular exercising after being dormant for 7 years. It really helped my confidence with the decision to make investments of time and money to exercise as many days out of the week as I could.

The underlying research that is in this book should be given credit and I have to take away points for not presenting the hypothesis of all the experiments presented in the book in greater detail, because a casual reader will likely infer that all the studies were conducted on behalf of the thesis of the book.

Still, 5 Stars.

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SPARK: Confirmed what I believed with scientific evidence. A MUST READ

Highly recommended. It will help to explain and motivate individuals who suffer from any number of today's health-related problems.

This book explains so much about the inter-relationship of the mind and body, though a bit technical at times. A few simple diagrams / graphics would have been a nice addition - next printing perhaps.

I happened to read it after successfully weening myself from years of anti-depresents. I understand how I was able to be so successful even though my doctor lacked a firm sense of these beliefs. It helps to know the key to so much personal recovery/growth is within AND backed-up by science.

Like Dorothy in The Wizard of OZ, we have the capacity to improve and make the changes we seek. Exercise is the 'ruby slipper' It cranks up the brain and gets us where we want to go.

THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS BOOK! It is an important read and keeper but pass it on: Improving one's mind/body experience is the best gift we can share!

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Very good, but missing stats (e.g. Naperville high school students' ethnicity breakdown)

John J. Ratey's book is important and a great addition to exercise science. But I was concerned by some insufficient stats in his research. For example, I am very familiar with Naperville, Illinois, which he cites as the area in the U.S. where high school students academically fair as well or better than Asian students in Japan, China, India, etc.

Ratey attributes Naperville's academic excellence to exercise, and not to ethnicity. However, Ratey does not indicate the ethnic distribution of students in Naperville. I happen to know that Naperville is peppered with industries like Lucent Technologies, etc. that hire larger than average numbers of Asian employees in computer science, engineering, etc. Naperville has a "huge" Asian population, and Ratey's book left me asking the begging question, "Is Ratey really comparing non-Asian American high schoolers to Asian high schoolers, or is he comparing American Asian high schoolers to native-born Asians?"

If the latter, then Naperville academic success amounts to very smart Asians in the U.S. outpacing less exercised Asians abroad. In short, although exercise might be part of the reason for Naperville's academic success, another hidden reason might be the genetic argument that Asians simply score better in school.

Take a look at piano competitions, where it is a well known fact that Asians seem to dominate in recent years in competitions at all age groups (e.g. see Veda Kablinsky's comment on Asian piano superiority in the Van Cliburn Competition DVD, "In the Heart.")

Statistical omissions in Ratey's book as that mentioned aboved dampens it's convincing power. Still, SPARK is a very good book and a valuable contribution to exercise science. It should be purchased and read by all (on a treadmill)!

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Brain power

This book has alot of technical language but is very good at stressing why excersise is so important for our bodies and mind. It's a good read and school phys ed teachers could learn a tremendous amount to help their students.

reviews: 1, 2, page 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

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