Product Description
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

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 78 reviews)

EXCELLENT resource puts the mind in motion by Jay M. Greenfeld (Iowa)

5 Stars
November 24, 2009
I found SPARK to be one of the most fascinating books I have read on exercise and the brain. As an author and researcher whose focus is on integrating psychotherapy with exercise and a lecturer on stress management who focuses on using exercise to help diminish stress, I could not think of a better reference than SPARK. Each chapter combines extensive research with real-life examples of how exercise can influence our holistic health. For individuals seeking alternative treatment options, reading SPARK will ignite an understanding of how initiating exercise can influence your choices to lead invigorating lives. The lucid articulation of each chapter will help you think about yourself more positively and empower you to approach to anxiety, depression, ADHD, and aging (to name a few) with a positive action oriented mind frame. Although some of the early content was dense (e.g., brain chemistry), it set a strong foundation to help me understand how much the mechanisms of the brain and how I think influence my ability to exercise. The authors did an excellent job of providing the public with a window into the powerful impact of preventative self-care through exercise. I am so glad my cousin insisted I read SPARK - it helped validate how much of an influence my choices have on my physical and mental well-being. My Choice - My Life: Realizing Your Ability to Create Balance in Life

good primer on exercise and the brain by Dr. Nicholas P. G. Davies (Halifax, UK)

4 Stars
November 24, 2009
This is a decent book with an optimistic message. We can alter our brain growth, chemistry and function by the simple expedient of moving ourselves and doing some exercise. The exercise will boost our physical and mental effectiveness, and counteract, or prevent entirely, our tendencies to be anxious, down, depressed, irritable, poor concentration or "hormonal". Exercise will boost the function of our brains and our bodies to our own and our family's, friends' and colleagues' benefits. Exercise does this by boosting BDGF and rebalancing the levels of sertraline, norepinephrine (noradrenalin) and dopamine and by helping it get the right balance of excitatory and inhibitory traffic across synapses. The microscopic effects lead on the good macroscopically observable (psychological) effects we can feel and observe. Oh and the exercise is helping your body develop well too. By the time you have read this book you will have come to realise that exercise is a GOOD THING for your brain and your body. As animals we are meant to move, and we feel better when we travel a certain distance each day under our own efforts. The real question is does the author establish his case fully? I think mostly he does, but we are taking a lot on trust here. It is obvious in the text that at times the author is referring to specific papers (as he should be in a text making large claims as this one does). The corresponding references are not given so we have to take the author's assertion and we cannot check the references for ourselves. So we are having to take the facts presented on trust...although the author does come across as trustworthy. The lack of references does make for faster reading, but as the book is not long they could have been given.(..or maybe the modern way would be to put the links on a website?) The second potential drawback of this book is that exercise comes across as a bit of a panacea, which it isn't. I know this book is written as advocacy, but a bit of perspective and review wouldn't go amiss. There's an element of preaching in the book which is within tolerable limits. The basic thesis of this book is that mental dysfunction is often a reflection of our sedentary and stressed lifestyles and that seems a reasonable proposition. The idea that thinking is a motor act, and intimately related with movement is plausible. The idea that exercise will help a lot of people with mental health problems to get better is one that I hope will become more widespread with time. It offers many people a way out of mental illness that is entirely self help, drug free and readily available. I hope the ideas of this book Spark many of us into action. I recommend this book, and acting on it. It lost a star for the lack of references and slightly preachy style.

Not as accessible for laypersons as the title implies by Steven D. Ward (Seoul, South Korea)

4 Stars
November 12, 2009
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/ROFGJ4HLU98P7 Spark explained to me things that I had already noticed in my own life, though I found parts of it very difficult to digest. It has further cemented lifestyle changes in my life that I had already made and given me the conviction to pass the importance of exercise down to my future children.

Spark by Shake. Topalian (New York, New York United States)

5 Stars
October 22, 2009
This is an excellent book, interesting science, which should motivate everyone to EXERCISE consistently. At times the science was a bit too detailed, but it's good for the brain to challenge oneself and study it.

Spark by Bigswatter (Middlesex,NJ)

4 Stars
October 18, 2009
Finally, support for the Physical Education programs in Education! Great compilation of information on how exercise increases academic achievement! Though sometimes sidetracked by useless descriptive narrative of people, the numerous facts and results are convincing. An easy, quick read.

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