John J. Ratey, M.D., to present April 4 Harman lecture

John J. Ratey, M.D.

John J. Ratey, M.D., associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, will be the guest speaker April 4 at noon for the 2008 Denham Harman, M.D., Ph.D., Lectureship in Biomedical Gerontology at UNMC.

The lecture, which is sponsored by the UNMC Department of Neurological Sciences, is titled, “Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain.”

The lecture title is the same as Dr. Ratey’s new book, which was released in January. His talk will focus on exercise as a key to solving some of the most prominent health problems.

The lecture — which will be held in the Durham Research Center Auditorium — is open to the public. Lunch will be provided for the first 300 attendees.

“Exercise is the single most powerful tool we have to optimize brain function,” Dr. Ratey said. “This potent idea has been proven not only through the latest studies in neuroscience but also on the playgrounds of some of America’s schools. The evidence is astounding — exercise not only makes us smarter; it also makes us less stressed, depressed, and anxious.”

Dr. Ratey’s book lauds the benefits of exercise in improving cognitive function, reducing stress, weight, depression and memory loss associated with age.

To boost brain health, Dr. Ratey recommends committing to six hours of exercise a week.

“The best regime is some form of aerobic activity six days a week, for 45 minutes to an hour,” he said. “Four days should be on the longer side, at moderate intensity, and two on the shorter side, at high intensity.”

More about Dr. Harman Denham Harman, M.D., Ph.D., is the Emeritus Millard Professor of Medicine at UNMC and is known internationally as the father of the Free Radical Theory of Aging, which he proposed in 1954. The theory is one of the most well-known and respected theories on the aging process. Dr. Harman proposed that free radicals — highly reactive molecules freed in the normal chemical processes — cause aging and disease through their destructive actions in cells and tissues. The theory suggests that antioxidants such as vitamin E, C and beta carotene can decrease the chain lengths of free radical reactions. By minimizing copper, iron and other oxidant catalysts, antioxidants can decrease the rate of aging and of disease pathogenesis. Many studies now support this possibility. Dr. Harman discovered the theory while working as a research associate at the Donner Laboratory of Medical Physics at the University of California, Berkeley. Years later in mouse models in the laboratory, Dr. Harman employed antioxidants such as vitamins E, C and beta carotene to reduce the cancer-causing and atherosclerosis-causing effects of free radicals. His work has produced insights into potential means to delay age-related conditions and most recently has turned to mechanisms involved in Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Harman’s theory laid the groundwork for a great deal of research and interest in the aging process, and the discovery of the potential of antioxidants to fight off cancer, heart disease and other degenerative effects of aging.

He also recommends including some form of strength or resistance training on the shorter, high intensity days.

“These days should not be back to back,” Dr. Ratey said. “Your body and brain need recovery time to grow after high-intensity days.”

Pierre Fayad, M.D., chairman of the UNMC Department of Neurological Sciences, said he is excited to have Dr. Ratey to present the Harman lecture, which was established by the University of Nebraska Foundation to honor the scientific achievements of Dr. Harman, 92, UNMC emeritus professor of internal medicine who is known internationally as the father of the free radical theory of aging.

“We are honored to host Dr. Ratey’s visit, which brings to focus new horizons in brain function,” Dr. Fayad said. “His insight and ideas bring us back to the fundamental aspects of brain function — first that the brain is a living and adaptable organ, and two, that strengthening and preserving brain function does not necessarily always require the use of medications. In more simple terms, it reminds us of the old adage, ‘Use it or Lose it.'”

As a clinical researcher, Dr. Ratey has published more than 60 papers in peer-review journals in the fields of psychiatry and psychopharmacology. In 1986 he founded the Boston Center for the Study of Autism, and in 1988 he founded a new study group of the American Psychiatric Association focused on the study of aggression, which grew out of his research and development of novel drug treatments for aggressive behavior.

During this time Dr. Ratey lectured internationally on aggression and disturbances in the brain that affect social functioning.

Dr. Ratey also has a private practice in Cambridge, Mass. For more than a decade he taught residents and Harvard medical students as the assistant director of resident training at Massachusetts Mental Health Center. He continues to teach psychiatrists as a regular instructor in Harvard’s Continuing Medical Education program.

He and Edward Hallowell, M.D., began studying attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in the 1980s and in 1994 co-authored “Driven to Distraction: Recognizing and Coping with Attention Deficit Disorder from Childhood through Adulthood (1994),” the first in a series of books that demystify the disorder. Dr. Ratey also co-authored “Shadow Syndromes” with Catherine Johnson, Ph.D., in which he describes the phenomenon of milder forms of clinical disorders.

In 2000, he wrote the bestseller, “A User’s Guide to the Brain: Perception, Attention and the Four Theaters of the Brain,” which translates how neuroscience affects emotions, behavior and overall psychology.

Since 1998 Dr. Ratey has been selected each year as one of the best doctors in America by his peers. Most recently, Dr. Ratey was the recipient of the 2006 Excellence in Advocacy award from the non-profit group PE4Life, for his work to promote the adoption of regular, aerobic-based physical education.

In 1976, he earned a doctor of medicine from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. From 1976 to 1977, he did an internship in neurology at St. Francis General Hospital in Pittsburgh. In 1980, he completed a psychiatric residency at Massachusetts Mental Health Center in Boston, and from 1978 to 1980, he completed a Falk Fellowship with the American Psychiatric Association.

Click here to see more information about Dr. Ratey.