Spark

October 15, 2007
Ratey (psychiatry, Harvard Medical Sch.; "A User's Guide to the Brain: Perception, Attention, and the Four Theaters of the Brain") presents much of the hard science documenting how the brain works and how exercise stimulates and strengthens neurochemical brain functions. Ratey aims to "deliver in plain English the inspiring science connecting exercise and the brain and demonstrate how it plays out in the lives of real people." He intersperses some lackluster, brief personal narratives with the latest brain research supporting the thesis that exercise throughout one's life stimulates neurogenesis, or the formation of new brain cells. Exercise, in addition to maintaining muscle tone and cardiovascular health, is thus "simply one of the best treatments we have for most psychiatric problems," helping to beat stress, panic attacks, and anxiety; sharpen intellect and cognitive skills; and combat the effects of aging and such related mental disorders as Alzheimer's. The book is especially useful as a layperson's guide to the brain and its neurochemistry; recommended for consumer health collections. (Glossary not seen.) [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 9/15/07.]James Swanton, Harlem Hosp. Lib., New York

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