By SARAH GOODYEAR, The Atlantic Cities
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The same holds true for depression and other mood problems. People who ride bicycles are almost ridiculously eager – and I include myself in this company – to tell you about how getting on the bike and riding for transportation or for pleasure elevates their mood and helps calm anxiety. It’s one of the reasons that people become so passionately attached to their bicycles. Yet scientists still don’t fully understand why this might be so.
John Ratey, a professor of psychiatry at Harvard University, is one of the people who is trying to figure it out. His 2008 book, Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain, looked at the link between exercise and learning, mood, aging, ADHD, and a host of other mental functions. In an interview with The Independent, Ratey discussed why cycling might be a particularly effective way to both exercise our bodies and sharpen our minds:
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Cycling, says Ratey, is "like taking a little bit of Prozac and a little bit of Ritalin."
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https://www.theatlanticcities.com/commute/2013/02/why-we-need-more-research-cycling-and-brain-science/4624/
Biking in Baltimore