Exercise has always been an important aspect of human life, and many understand its benefits physically. The way it releases our stress, builds our muscle tone and helps us lose excess and unwanted weight. Less often however, do we go to the gym thinking about how the exercise we are about to do will benefit our mind. Agreeing with this theory of exercise improving out cognitive capabilities is Raymond D. Fowler’s review of “ Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain” by John J. Ratey and Eric Hagerman. He explains that the real reason we feel so good when we get our blood pumping is that it makes the brain function at its best, and in his view, this benefit of physical activity is far more significant—and captivating—than what it does for the body.
Ratey’s original approach comprises concepts drawn from various fields such as human evolution, cognitive psychology, and neuroscience. His essential concept is that “the evolutionary success of the human species is rooted in the relationship of physical activity to the learning required to find and store food.” Ratey theorizes, “The relationship between food, physical activity, and learning is hardwired into the brain's circuitry." Fowler believes Ratey’s views on the mental benefit of physical exercise, but points out the problem that Ratey’s explanation is overly simplistic for neuroscientists but may be overly complex for the typical lay reader for whom the book is intended. Using extremely scientific terms with abbreviations for various instruments could turn away the average interested reader.
Fowler does point out that there are however chapters on stress, anxiety, and depression that would be of particular interest to the psychotherapist. Ratey describes the ample evidence that physical exercise ameliorates anxiety and tension, and convincing research reveals that physical exercise is efficient in treating depression. Although I will not go into the statistics here, any positive outlook on the treatment of depression leaves me optimistic. I have personally seen the effect of depression on my friends and family, and now knowing that exercise may increase the chances of alleviating depression is reassuring.
Here are a few statistics that Fowler points out from Ratey’s article that are worth noting:
• In comparison with most women, older women with higher levels of exercise (median: walking 12 hours a week) had a 20 percent lower chance of being cognitively impaired on tests of memory and general intelligence (Weuve et al.'s, 2004 study, as cited in Ratey, p. 221).
• A number of studies show a strong correlation between fitness levels and better performance on tests that target the temporal and frontal lobes (p. 225).
• Studies suggest that older men who exercise maintain a greater blood flow to the brain than inactive men, and MRI studies suggest that improved fitness is associated with an increase in brain volume.
This article really caught my eye because of my interest in the health sciences as well as my psychology background. I fully believe the mind and physical wellbeing are correlated, and that we won’t be able to be 100% complete without one or the other.
Fowler, Raymond D. “Exercise for the brain”. PsycCRITIQUES, Vol 53 (36), 2008
http://johnhawks.net:84/node/425
