104
" But human evolution is not a linear progression. Rather, there evolved and existed for literally millions of years—much longer than we have existed—a handful of species of viable, big-brained, upright, tool-wielding, hunting, social primates, each successful in its own niche and place. Yet modern Homo sapiens appear on the scene only fifty thousand or so years ago, after 90 percent of hominid evolutionary time has already passed, and suddenly we become a breakout species. Suddenly, all of those other perfectly viable hominid species are extinct, every single one. We are the only remaining species in the genus Homo. "
― John J. Ratey , Go Wild: Free Your Body and Mind from the Afflictions of Civilization
108
" The beauty of exercise is that it attacks the problem from both directions at the same time. It gets us moving, naturally, which stimulates the brain stem and gives us more energy, passion, interest, and motivation. We feel more vigorous. From above, in the prefrontal cortex, exercise shifts our self-concept by adjusting all the chemicals I’ve mentioned, including serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, BDNF, VEGF, and so on. And unlike many antidepressants, exercise doesn’t selectively influence anything—it adjusts the chemistry of the entire brain to restore normal signaling. "
― John J. Ratey , Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain
111
" Worthman’s answer is this: we pay for sleep deficit in the currency of stress. “Sleep deprivation looks like stress. It increases cortisol, it increases appetite, decreases satiety, increases blood glucose levels,” she says. “This is straight out of the stress literature. If you curtail sleep just now and then, you can manage the hit, but if you do it too much, it erodes the health of the organism, the person, and her ability to cope. "
― John J. Ratey , Go Wild: Free Your Body and Mind from the Afflictions of Civilization
114
" Next comes a husky boy in baggy shorts. “Bring it on in, Doug,” Duncan says. “What’d you get?” “Nine minutes.” “Flat?” “Yeah.” “Nice work.” When Michelle and Krissy finally saunter over, Duncan asks for their times, but Michelle’s watch is still running. Apparently, she didn’t hit the blue button. Krissy did, though, and their times are the same. She holds up her wrist for Duncan. “Ten twelve,” he says, noting the time on his clipboard. What he doesn’t say is “It looked like you two were really loafing around out there!” The fact is, they weren’t. When Duncan downloads Michelle’s monitor, he’ll find that her average heart rate during her ten-minute mile was 191, a serious workout for even a trained athlete. She gets an A for the day. "
― John J. Ratey , Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain
117
" In the nineteenth century, when Europeans were exploring North America, a few explorers and fur trappers made contact with the nomadic Indians of the northern plains, a people who, like many hunter-gatherers, lived almost exclusively off animals. The Europeans of necessity adopted that diet and soon found themselves quite ill, even to the point of sprouting open, running sores on their faces. They were like we are today and ate only muscle meat. But then the Indians showed them the choice parts, the bits of liver and spleen, bone marrow and brain and the fat, especially the fat. The Europeans ate as they were told and got better because the organ tissue contained some essential micronutrients lacking in the muscle meat. "
― John J. Ratey , Go Wild: Free Your Body and Mind from the Afflictions of Civilization