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Evolutionary history and why physical activity is important for brain health

scientificamerican.com

51–60 of 138 posts

Re: Evolutionary history and why physical activity is important for brain health

#52
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then you should do some mental activity to find a physical activity that you like.

I pretty much hate everything that is easily accessible...swimming is OK but TBH I prefer reading books or coding side projects. I purchased boxing classes and will try it out with a friend. I think some people just despise physical activities, like there are a lot of people who just refuse to think.

Be careful with boxing - taking hits to the head is very bad for brain health.

Re: Evolutionary history and why physical activity is important for brain health

#53
The tendency to compartmentalize mind and body never made sense to me. The brain is adapted to navigating the physical world, so it should be unsurprising that physical exercise is a prerequisite to proper functioning. Why else would the "memory palace" be a thing? If our memory/perception is inherently spatial, then it relies on a privileged observer capable of interacting with its environment. The rest of the nervous system is basically just feeding you training data when you exercise.

Re: Evolutionary history and why physical activity is important for brain health

#54

TBH I really hate physical activity, but I have to do it to keep healthy :(

You should try crossfit. It is basically like Fight Club if the first two rules were the opposite.

Don't let the Crossfit brand turn you off of the whole thing. If you ignore the weird culty online culture, it's just a bunch of people doing a hard workout. You'll make lots of friends, get healthier and you'll start to enjoy the workouts a lot faster than you think.

Re: Evolutionary history and why physical activity is important for brain health

#55

TBH I really hate physical activity, but I have to do it to keep healthy :(

You should try crossfit. It is basically like Fight Club if the first two rules were the opposite.

Crossfit appears to be about chasing fatigue, which is why I don't understand the appeal. I do moderate cardio and strength training.

Re: Evolutionary history and why physical activity is important for brain health

#56
post #50

>Less clear has been why physical activity affects the brain in the first place. I think the studies are looking at this backwards. Physical activity should probably be looked at as the natural state of humans and ask why lack of physical activity affects the brain. Then it probably makes a lot more sense, the brain is comprised of cells, just like muscles, that are either anabolic or catabolic. A lack of physical ex…

> I think the studies are looking at this backwards. Physical activity should probably be looked at as the natural state of humans and ask why lack of physical activity affects the brain. I wonder if there's a selfless gene in humans that reduces the reproductive fitness/longevity of humans that aren't pulling their weight for the group. I could imagine that a gene that shortens the life of a member in a group could…

Not silly at all. You could even relate the suicide of lower status males to this kind of mechanic. Or the grandmother hypothesis about why women have a menopause.

Re: Evolutionary history and why physical activity is important for brain health

#57
If I understood the article properly, then:

PLAY - Playing a physical game like tag, catch, soccer, volley ball, hide and seek... provides both physical exercise and cognitive / social stimulation because of group play's dynamic nature.

This next bit might not be useful. In college, the distance from my apartment to school was 15 - 20 minutes. And I took to the habit of listening to audio books on my ride (traffic was low so it was relatively safe).

I noticed that if I listened to a track while riding, I would remember exactly where I was the next time I listened to the track.

(The track reminded me of the location, rather than the location reminded me of the track.)

Re: Evolutionary history and why physical activity is important for brain health

#58

TBH I really hate physical activity, but I have to do it to keep healthy :(

Try a few before you give up. Boxing, martial arts, weightlifting, running, hiking, scuba, swimming, soccer, sword fighting - really, the options are endless.

Re: Evolutionary history and why physical activity is important for brain health

#59
post #50

>Less clear has been why physical activity affects the brain in the first place. I think the studies are looking at this backwards. Physical activity should probably be looked at as the natural state of humans and ask why lack of physical activity affects the brain. Then it probably makes a lot more sense, the brain is comprised of cells, just like muscles, that are either anabolic or catabolic. A lack of physical ex…

> I think the studies are looking at this backwards. Physical activity should probably be looked at as the natural state of humans and ask why lack of physical activity affects the brain. I wonder if there's a selfless gene in humans that reduces the reproductive fitness/longevity of humans that aren't pulling their weight for the group. I could imagine that a gene that shortens the life of a member in a group could…

[deleted]

Re: Evolutionary history and why physical activity is important for brain health

#60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I pretty much hate everything that is easily accessible...swimming is OK but TBH I prefer reading books or coding side projects. I purchased boxing classes and will try it out with a friend. I think some people just despise physical activities, like there are a lot of people who just refuse to think.

Be careful with boxing - taking hits to the head is very bad for brain health.

He's obviously taking fitness [boxing] classes and will not actually be sparring anyone.
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