The following are some direct quotes from Dr. John J Ratey's book Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain. This is a great book to read if you are interested in just how that runner's high works or why you feel so great after a workout. This is just going to be an overview of what I found to be the most prominent passages.
"What's disturbing is that inactivity is killing our brains - physically shriveling them...To keep our brains at peak performance our bodies need to work hard (proper stress)...The neurons in the brain connect to one another through "leaves" on treelike branches, and exercise causes those branches to grow and bloom with new buds, thus enhancing brain function at a fundamental level." (Ratey, pg. 5)
"(The brain) is more Play-Doh than procelain. It is an adaptable organ that can be molded by input in much the same way as a muslce can be sculpted by lifting barbells. The more you use it, the stronger and more flexible it becomes. The concept of plasticity is fundamental to understanding how the brain works and how exercise optimizes brain function by fostering that quality. Everything we do and think and feel is governed by how our brain cells, or neurons, connect to one another. What most people think of as psychological makeup is rooted in the biology of these connections. Likewise, our thoughts and behavior and environment relect back on our neurons, influencing the patter of connections. Far from being hardwired, as scientists once envisioned it, the brain is constantly being rewired." (Ratey, pg. 36)
"Exercise spawns neurons, and the stimulation of environmental enrichment (learning skills/inquisitiveness) helps those cells survive." (Ratey, pg. 49)
"If we strip everything else away, the reason we need an ability to learn is to help us find and obtain and store food. We need fuel to learn, and we need learning to find a source of fuel and all these neurotransmitters (that are balanced by exercising) from the body keep this process going and keep us adapting and surviving...It's about growth vs. decay, activity vs. inactivity. The body was designed to be pushed, and in pushing our bodies we push our brains too. Learning and memory evolved in concert with the motor functions that allowed our ancestors to track down food, so as our brains are concerned, if we're not moving, there's no real need to learn anything." (Ratey, pg. 53) <--and if we're not learning then we stop living
Some cool stuff in my opinion. I'll let that soak up. If it feels good, I'll post more. But for now - go grab so exercise, learn some skills, and feel those neurons growing!
"What's disturbing is that inactivity is killing our brains - physically shriveling them...To keep our brains at peak performance our bodies need to work hard (proper stress)...The neurons in the brain connect to one another through "leaves" on treelike branches, and exercise causes those branches to grow and bloom with new buds, thus enhancing brain function at a fundamental level." (Ratey, pg. 5)
"(The brain) is more Play-Doh than procelain. It is an adaptable organ that can be molded by input in much the same way as a muslce can be sculpted by lifting barbells. The more you use it, the stronger and more flexible it becomes. The concept of plasticity is fundamental to understanding how the brain works and how exercise optimizes brain function by fostering that quality. Everything we do and think and feel is governed by how our brain cells, or neurons, connect to one another. What most people think of as psychological makeup is rooted in the biology of these connections. Likewise, our thoughts and behavior and environment relect back on our neurons, influencing the patter of connections. Far from being hardwired, as scientists once envisioned it, the brain is constantly being rewired." (Ratey, pg. 36)"Exercise spawns neurons, and the stimulation of environmental enrichment (learning skills/inquisitiveness) helps those cells survive." (Ratey, pg. 49)
"If we strip everything else away, the reason we need an ability to learn is to help us find and obtain and store food. We need fuel to learn, and we need learning to find a source of fuel and all these neurotransmitters (that are balanced by exercising) from the body keep this process going and keep us adapting and surviving...It's about growth vs. decay, activity vs. inactivity. The body was designed to be pushed, and in pushing our bodies we push our brains too. Learning and memory evolved in concert with the motor functions that allowed our ancestors to track down food, so as our brains are concerned, if we're not moving, there's no real need to learn anything." (Ratey, pg. 53) <--and if we're not learning then we stop living
Some cool stuff in my opinion. I'll let that soak up. If it feels good, I'll post more. But for now - go grab so exercise, learn some skills, and feel those neurons growing!
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