Spark, John J. Ratey
Spark, John J. Ratey
8 Rating(s)
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Spark
The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain

Author: John J. Ratey, Eric Hagerman

Narrator: Allan Robertson

Unabridged: 9 hr 38 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/12/2021

Synopsis

A groundbreaking and fascinating investigation into the transformative effects of exercise on the brain, from the bestselling author and renowned psychiatrist John J. Ratey, MD.

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.

In Spark, John J. Ratey, M.D., embarks upon a fascinating and entertaining journey through the mind-body connection, presenting startling research to prove that exercise is truly our best defense against everything from depression to ADD to addiction to aggression to menopause to Alzheimer's.

Filled with amazing case studies (such as the revolutionary fitness program in Naperville, Illinois, which has put this school district of 19,000 kids first in the world of science test scores), Spark is the first book to explore comprehensively the connection between exercise and the brain. It will change forever the way you think about your morning run -- -or, for that matter, simply the way you think.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Clif on August 22, 2019

Exercise is the single most powerful tool available to optimize brain function. That is the message from this book. Everybody knows that exercise creates a fit body, but what many forget is that the brain is part of the body too. Modern science has been able to learn much about how the brain works,......more

Goodreads review by Dr. Appu on April 02, 2023

If you are a person who wants to exercise daily but unfortunately procrastinates it every time, this is the best book you can read. It will motivate you to exercise regularly by telling you all advantages of doing exercise in the best possible manner with the help of adequate scientific data fro......more

Goodreads review by Ensiform on December 04, 2013

The author attempts to explain for the layman, but ends up using masses of neurological jargon and acronyms, about the role exercise plays in sharpening our mental processes. Boiling it down to the basics: moving our muscles produces proteins that play roles in neurogenesis and the repair of synapse......more

Goodreads review by Nicole on December 29, 2008

This book gets a bit repetitive after awhile (I quit after reading about 3/4 of it), and the conclusions he drew from some of the research studies seemed to really be stretching what you could reasonably conclude from the actual results. But it did convince me that I had to start exercising after bei......more

Goodreads review by CoachJim on April 20, 2022

We all know that exercise makes us feel better, but most of us have no idea why. 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 fu......more

Quotes

"At last a book that explains to me why I feel so much better if I run in the morning! This very readable book describes the science behind the mind-body connection and adds to the evidence that exercise is the best way to stay healthy, alert, and happy!"—Dr. Susan M. Love, Dr. Susan Love's Menopause and Hormone Book and Dr. Susan Love's Breast Book

"Bravo! This is an extremely important book. What Cooper did decades ago for exercise and the heart, Ratey does in SPARK for exercise and the brain. Everyone--teachers, doctors, managers, policy-makers, individuals trying to lead the best kind of life--can benefit enormously from the utterly convincing and brilliantly documented thesis of this ground-breaking work. People know that exercise helps just about everything, except anorexia, but it will surprise most people just how dramatically it improves all areas of mental functioning. So, get moving! You're brain will thank you and repay you many times over."—Edward Hallowell, M.D., The Hallowell Centers

"This book is a real turning point that explains something I've been trying to figure out for years. Having experienced symptoms of both ADHD and mild depression, I have personally witnessed the powerful effects of exercise, and I've suspected that the health benefits go way beyond just fitness. Exercise is not simply necessary, as Dr. Ratey clearly shows, it's medicine."—Greg LeMond, Three-time winner of the Tour de France

"SPARK is just what we need-a thoughtful, interesting, scientific treatise on the powerful and positive impact of exercise on the brain. In mental health, exercise is a growth stock and Ratey is our best broker."—Ken Duckworth, M.D., Medical Director for the National Alliance on Mental Illness

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