Move the Body, Heal the Mind

December 20, 2021
Heisz, professor of kinesiology at McMaster University, debuts with an informative if shaky “self-help guide on the neuroscience of exercise.” She makes the case that exercise can help individuals overcome addiction, reduce the probability of experiencing dementia, improve sleep patterns, enhance creativity, and beat depression (especially in cases when antidepressants don’t work). In each section, Heisz provides basic information about neuroscience to explain how exercise can improve a given issue, and offers movement programs designed as a “neuro fix”: for improving sleep quality, for example, an afternoon walk outside can help “reset brain time” and sync one’s circadian rhythm; cross-training, on the other hand, is great for enhanced focus and creativity. Heisz’s findings are often fascinating—she notes that inactivity leads to high blood pressure and puts one “at risk of small vessel disease,” which, in turn, can cause the brain’s white matter to starve, leading to dementia—but her cloying prose becomes tiresome quickly (“What’s the exercise prescription for resiliency? It’s easy. Hooray!”), and the “case study characters” she creates end up distracting rather than clarifying. The idea has potential, but the execution is lacking. Agent: Chris Bucci, Aevitas Creative Management.