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Last modified: Thursday, May 6, 2010

'Spark' author to discuss brain-body connection, exercise and evolution at IU

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 6, 2010

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- John J. Ratey, M.D., associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and author of the bestseller Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain, will discuss the "Exercise Revolution: The New Science of Exercise and the Brain," on Thursday, May 13, at Indiana University Bloomington.

Ratey will speak at 5:30 p.m. in the Indiana Memorial Union's Frangipani Room. A reception hosted by Karen Hanson, IU Bloomington provost and executive vice president, and Dean of Students Pete Goldsmith will begin at 5 p.m. in the IMU Garden Courtyard on the Mezzanine Floor. The address is free and open to the public.

Spark (Little, Brown and Co., 2008), is the culmination of years of experience with the brain-body connection, new research data, and the synthesis of biological sciences. Ratey's website describes the book as a "call to return to our evolutionary roots; to get in sync with our metabolic design honed through eons of survival to optimize mental and physical health."

"The opportunity to bring Dr. Ratey to campus is exciting since he has such an enriching and relevant presentation about optimal mental performance," said Kathy Bayless, executive director of Campus Recreational Sports and assistant dean of the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation.

Ratey's presentation is sponsored by the Indiana University Campus Recreational Sports Advisory Board, School of HPER, IU Office of the Dean of Students, Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President and Wellness & Prevention Inc.

Ratey is one of three world-renowned industry professionals who will participate in the Big Ten Recreational Sports Conference hosted by IU Campus Recreational Sports at IU Bloomington May 11-13. He, along with David Hunnicutt, president of the Wellness Councils of America, and Robert Rossman, visiting professor at Texas A & M University, will lead workshops and sessions at the conference, which has the theme "Impacting the Future: Programming Through a New Lens." The conference is not open to the public.

More than 125 recreational sports management leaders from some of the largest and most influential recreational sport programs in the country will come together for professional development, networking and sharing of best practices.

"We have been very intentional with setting a conference theme emphasizing wellness and programming for the participant experience," Bayless said.

More information about Ratey can be found at https://www.johnratey.com/newsite/profile.html.

For more information, contact Kalyn Hippleheuser at 812-855-7673 and khippleh@indiana.edu.

About IU Campus Recreational Sports

IU Campus Recreational Sports, a division of the School of HPER, exists to connect, inform and inspire people to lead active, healthy lifestyles. To learn more, visit recsports.indiana.edu, or call 812-855-7772.