John Ratey nicknamed BDNF the 'Miracle-Gro for the brain' because it improves neuron function, encourages neuron growth, strengthens neurons, and protects them against natural cell death, and serves as a crucial biological link between thought, emotions, and movement.

Exercise has been marketed primarily on vague benefits like 'good for the heart' and weight loss, neither of which are compelling or scientifically robust selling points compared to its actual neurological benefits.

The koala evolved a specialized digestive system to extract energy from eucalyptus leaves, reducing the diversity and effort required for foraging, which led to reduced selective pressure for complex movement and a correspondingly smaller brain size compared to its evolutionary ancestors.

The sea squirt uses its nervous system early in life to move around and find a suitable rock to attach to; once attached and sedentary, movement is no longer necessary for survival, so the sea squirt digests its brain for energy.

The California Department of Education has consistently shown that students with higher fitness scores have higher test scores.

A 2001 Queen's University review of exercise intervention studies found that after 20 weeks, 'the amount of exercise energy expenditure had no correlation with weight loss,' demonstrating that exercise does not reliably cause weight loss as commonly claimed.

Exercise increases muscle mass and improves insulin sensitivity, setting up a healthier body composition, but these effects may not manifest as weight loss if diet is not managed, leading to discouragement if weight loss is the primary expected outcome.

Exercise causes muscle gain and muscle tissue contains mitochondria that burn energy, making exercise 'the single best thing you can do for yourself,' but it should not be expected to produce weight loss on the scale.

Dr. Mark Tarnopolsky stated in a September 2016 TIME magazine article that 'If there were a drug that could do for human health everything that exercise can, it would likely be the most valuable pharmaceutical ever developed.'

Neuroscientist Daniel Wolpert argues that the brain exists for one primary reason: to produce adaptable and complex movement, not to think, create art, or solve problems.

Exercise has been shown to help people learn much more efficiently, better deal with stress, drastically reduce anxiety, improve mood to the point of lifting people out of depression, and strengthen focus such that some ADHD patients choose to discontinue their prescriptions.

Former President Ma of Taiwan increased the occurrence of Physical Education in schools nationwide from twice a week to three times a week based on the understanding that exercise improves academic learning.

South Korea's ministry of education, science and technology extended the school day by 1 hour to add more time for PE and sports after reading Dr. John Ratey's book 'SPARK,' which details the brain benefits of exercise.

Exercise actually primes the brain to learn faster, which is why Taiwan and South Korea's school systems chose to increase PE time rather than add another hour of traditional academic study.

A 2007 study showed that subjects who did high intensity exercise beforehand could learn vocabulary words 20% faster than those who remained sedentary.

A 2013 study in the journal of sports science and medicine showed that just 20 to 40 minutes of aerobic exercise increased BDNF in the blood by 32%.

Rather than stocking up on coffee before studying, a person might achieve better learning outcomes by jogging around the block instead, since exercise increases BDNF and primes the brain for learning more effectively than caffeine.

The body can be understood as an 'IF THEN' system with triggers that activate specific physiological processes, and most physiological expressions cannot be induced by willpower alone—the relevant triggers must be present.

When sedentary, the brain interprets this as a signal of safety, suggesting that nothing important is happening and it is time to rest, rather than enter learning mode.

The brain's reward center, mediated by dopamine, is fundamental to motivation and decision-making; without functioning reward systems, organisms lack reasons to engage in activities, and the absence of reward motivation can lead to severe depression and suicidal ideation.