Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain

By John Ratey

Categories: Health, Fitness & Dieting, Science & Math

In Spark, the psychiatrist John J. Ratey sets out research linking aerobic exercise to brain function. He argues that exercise raises neurotransmitter levels and BDNF, a protein he calls Miracle-Gro for the brain, which helps neurons grow and connect. The book opens with a physical education program in Naperville, Illinois, where students exercised hard before class, and moves through chapters on learning, stress, anxiety, depression, attention deficit, addiction, hormonal changes and aging, closing with advice on an exercise routine (Little, Brown, 2008).

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• Tim Ferriss: “There's a lot more that comes of exercise like BDNF and all these various things. There's a book called Spark that covers some of it, but it's very outdated, but check out klotho.”