Dr. John J. Ratey, M.D., associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, priva

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Dr. John J. Ratey, M.D., associate clinical
professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical
School, private practice in Cambridge,
Massachusetts, author of Spark The Revolutionary
New Science of Exercise and the Brain

• Dr. John Ratey testimony on HF439 before the
  Minnesota House of Representatives K-12 Education
  Policy Committee
• Feb. 19 , 2009

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MY GENES MAKE ME DO IT

Evolved out of NEED. Conserve
They drive us to load up on
and Because
tomorrow we will have to
Thrifty Genes
take it easy
calories
walk for days without food.
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The Time Has Come To Set Childish Things Aside
It Is Time To Get Serious About Play And Exercise

• Obama, 1995 autobiography, Dreams From My
  Father.
• I was a casual drug user, and underachiever.
• I put away childish things.decided to run three
  miles each day.
• I Stayed out late, and was undisciplined.
• I put away childish things...fasted on Sundays,
  read voraciously.

• Dec 25, 2008. For 48 days straight after
  the election, Obama exercised 90 minutes a day.
  Obamas dedication demonstrates that for him,
  exercise is not so much about recreation, but is
  a necessity.
• He uses his daily exercise to deal with stress,
  cravings, help boost his energy, productivity,
  creativity, and help with that amazing calmness
  in the face of difficult moments.

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No Child Left Behind Reduction of time
committed to recess, the creative arts, and even
physical education, in an effort to focus on
reading and mathematics. Fewer hours committed to
recess and play, especially affects children who
come from disadvantaged backgrounds.

• Childhood health problems, caused by inactivity,
  are a growing problem in the United States .
  Obesity among children
• More than doubled for children 2-5 years of age
• More than doubled for adolescents 12-19 years of
  age
• More than tripled for children 6-11 years of
  age.

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'Our Society Is At War'
The Enemy Is Chronic Disease
The Silent Enemy
Sedentary
Level of Physical Inactivity Below Which The
Theshold for Initial Health Effects Occur
Sedentary Living
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Thinking
Evolution
Movement
Thinking
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BDNF

• BDNF is a THE MOTHER OF ALL BRAIN GROWTH
  FACTORS which regulate the survival, growth
  differentiation of neurons during development and
  is vital to continue our Brains job of Adapting
  to the world- LEARNING .
• BDNF functions to translate activity into
  synaptic nerve plasticity in the adult animal.
• BDNF is MIRACLE GRO for the brain and is
  Evolutions great gift to us that is made when we
  use our brain cells.
• BDNF is an anti-depressant, anti-toxic
  stress factor and correlates with intelligence
  and memory.

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EXERCISE OPTIMZES LEARNING
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Nerve Cells Wiring The Building Blocks of
Learning

• By increasing neurotransmitter activity,
  improving blood flow and producing Brain Growth
  Factors that I call Miracle Gro or Brain
  Fertilizers, exercise readies our nerve cells to
  bind more easily and stronger.
• Exercise does this better than any other factor
  we are aware of at the present time.

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This study shows the coupling between
neurogenesis and angiogenesis and test whether
MRI measurements of cerebral blood volume
provide an imaging correlate of
neurogenesis. Eleven healthy subjects (mean age
33, ranging from 2145 years two males and nine
females) participated in the study, completing a
3-month aerobic exercise regimen. Cognitively,
individuals performed significantly better on
trial 1 learning after exercise, with a trend
toward improvement on all-trial learning and
delayed recall. To test that cognitive
improvement was related to exercise per se, we
found that individual changes in trial 1 learning
were correlated with individual changes
inVO2max. Pereira AC, Huddleston DE, Brickman
AM, Sosunov AA, Hen R, McKhann GM, Sloan R, Gage
FH, Brown TR, Small SA. An in vivo correlate of
exercise-induced neurogenesis in the adult
dentate gyrus. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007 Mar
27104(13)5638-43.
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If you are in education, you are in the business
of brain development
'
There is no anti-brain environment worse than
the classroom and cubicle.
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California Department of Education

• Higher academic achievement is associated with
  higher levels of fitness in grade 5,7,9.
• The relationship between academic achievement and
  fitness in grade 5,7,9 was greater in
  mathematics than in reading, particularly at high
  fitness levels.

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Every student at Madison Junior High completes a
computer-based fitness test.
Students spend one day a week in the school's
state-of-the-art fitness center.
The results of a 2001 study by the California
Department of Education showed 33 percent of
freshmen in California were overweight or obese.
When District 203 gathered its own data in a 2002
study of its own freshmen, only 3 percent were
overweight or obese. 19,000 children in the
district.
TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and
Science Study) is an international benchmarking
study comparing the achievement of eighth-grade
students . In 1999, Naperville District 203
scored 1 in science and 6 in math . An amazing
94.1 of Naperville parents were satisfied with
the PE curriculum.
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New Physical Education

• Fewer competitive activities and more activities
  that emphasize personal achievement- this is not
  a replacement for Competitive Sport.
• Use and CO-OPT our technology to truly serve us.
  USE OUR CYBER SLAVES
• Construct Developmentally appropriate curriculum
  -PE to include BRAIN
• Builds character, citizenship, teaches how to
  deal with adversity, and how to give back to
  their communities
• Include wide-ranging activities
• Lifelong goals of PLAY and activity

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Phenomenon

• Woodland Elementary School
• 2005 Fall
• PE one day per week / 50 minutes.
• 2006 Jan - June
• PE4life Program
• Five days a week / 45 minutes.
• -Inner city school with
• 80 of kids on free lunch program
• PE4LIFE added
• Cardiac monitored watches,
• Dance Dance Revolution,
• A few exercise bicycles/fitness machines.
• AND A NEW ATTITUDE

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Produces Results

• PE4life Programs help Reduce Disciplinary
  Incidents!

Major reduction of disciplinary issues in
Woodland Elementary, (KCMO) site of a PE4life
program
PE4life has had a tremendous influence on the
lives of our students. Students are also more
motivated throughout the day, their enthusiasm is
way up, and the discipline issues are way down.
 Craig Rupert, Principal, Woodland Elementary
School
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Charleston Progressive Academy Exercise Impacts
Self-Control
Public magnet school Grades 4-8 Approximately
120 children All on school breakfast and lunch
programs. Added 40 minutes of exercise in the
morning. Program was held in the gym in station
format. Activities included Basketball
Dance Dance Revolution Double Dutch" jump
roping Pogo stick jumping 1st
Semester 2006 - 2007 Outcomes Disciplinary
Referrals 2006 2007 Referrals 661
353 Suspensions 71 24
Teachers reported Students are more focused.
Students are more focused during the MAP
(Measure of Academic Progress) testing as
well. Teachers observed that
students testing immediately after morning
activities did better meeting or exceeding
individual growth targets than middle schoolers
taking the test late morning or in the
afternoon.
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Johannes Skolen Copenhagen, Denmark

• School PE was increased from once a week to 5
  times a week. 250 students participated, and the
  intervention scheduled for three months.
• Prior physical activity had consisted of ball
  play only.
• Physical education department added running, hip
  hop dance, aerobics, spinning, indoor rowing, and
  military boot camp training. After school
  activities were offered every day.
• Food served at school was changed to offer only
  healthy super foods. All junk food was removed.
  
• ABSENTEEISM decreased by 38.
• CONCENTR ATION ABILITY was measured and it
  improved 33.
• Teachers reported, The increase in exercise had
  great effects on CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR.
• Exercise had a major impact on GRADES there
  was an average of 1.5 grade improvement across
  the board.
• The Institute for Human Physiology,
  Copenhagen University, Chris MacDonald, and
  Danmarks Radio (TV DR 1) partnered in this
  project.