• Younger Next Year: A Guide to Living Like 50 Until You’re 80 and Beyond, Chris Crowley and Henry S. Lodge, Workman Publishing.
• Keep Your Brain Alive, Lawrence Katz, Ph.D. and Manning Rubin, Workman Publishing.
• Keep Your Brain Young, Guy McKhann, M.D., Marilyn Albert, Ph.D., Wiley Publishing.
• Parkinson’s Disease and the Art of Moving, John Argue, New Harbinger Publications, Inc.

Page 255 "Physical activity is helpful not only because it creates new neurons but because the mind is based in the brain and the brain needs oxygen. Walking, cycling or cardiovascular exercise strengthens the heart and the blood vessels that supply the brain and helps people engaged in those activities feel mentally sharper....recent research shows that exercise stimulates the production and releases of the neuronal growth factor BDNE , which plays a crucial role effecting plasticity change. In fact whatever keeps the heart and blood vessels fit invigorates the brain. ... Exercise stimulates your sensory and motor cornices and maintains your brain's balance system."

"Exercise is essential at every stage of our lives, but perhaps even more so as we grow older. Exercise plays a significant role in reducing vascular risk factors....heart function and circulation are enhanced. Muscle strength and balance are improved....endorphin levels are raised by aerobic exercise melting away, stress, depression and anxiety."

Comment from Paul Green: The power of exercise and its effect on the brain was confirmed for me in this article titled "The Deadliest Sin - From survival of the fittest to staying fit just to survive - scientists probe the benefits of exercise-and the dangers of sloth." The whole article is a must read and it formed much of the basis for the Never Surrender to Parkinson's program. Here are some key excerpts:

"Keeping your heart and body in shape is just a side benefit to exercise's major effect on the brain. The brain is where all the action is. During exercise the increase in cerebral blood flow creates more capillaries, more conduits for blood to flow in the brain. So you are building a reservoir and protecting the brain, in a way, from strokes in the future.

"...the increase in cerebral blood flow causes many interesting things to happen. Exercise increases production of growth factor called BDNE or brain derived neurotrophic factor. I call it, says John Ratey, a Harvard Medical School associate clinical professor of psychiatry, "Miracle-Gro" because it keep the neurons young and healthy and makes them more ready to connect with each other. It also encourages nuerogenesis- the creation of new nerve cells.

"... Exercise also generates the release of neurotransmitters-norepinephrine, serotonin and dopamine."

The influence of this article on the medical profession, in my opinion, was profound. Gradually the importance of exercise and an active lifestyle is being recognized and confirms that Never Surrender to Parkinson's is on the right track.

The book deals with the new realization concerning the plasticity of the brain and its ability to respond to environmental and physical input. The following paragraph highlights the opportunity available to us all but particularly those dealing with PD:

"It will be some time before efforts to regenerate brain cells become part of established medicine. Meanwhile for the vast majority of us, who are not debilitated but are coping with everyday problems and with aging, the lesson about brIan development is that we have the power to influence our brain's ability to renew itself. The human brain's amazing plasticity enables it to continually rewire and learn -- not just through academic study, but through experience, thought, action and emotion. As with our muscles, we can strengthen our neural pathways with brain exercise. Or we can let them wither. The principle is the same: Use it or lose it."