
Evolutionary history and why physical activity is important for brain health - prostoalex
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-your-brain-needs-exercise/
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throwaway_tech
>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
exercise is going to put all cells, including brain cells, in a catabolic
state the same as muscle atrophy will waste away muscles due to lack of
physical activity.

Cells are cells, they are where energy is made, they are binary only existing
in anabolic or catabolic states and never simultaneously existing in both
states. Lack of exercise put the cells in catabolic states and long term
catabolic states lead to metabolic/energy production problems in the cells. So
naturally if you consider lack of exercise as the natural state of humans,
sure it will appear physical activity improve brain function.

~~~
rosybox
> 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
increase the survivability of the gene in the same way that we've documented
selfless genes that spur primates to alert predators to save close relations
at their own personal expense.

Lack of activity might just be telling the body that we're useless and we need
to exit in order to help others. It's a silly idea, but just a shower thought
I've been mulling over.

~~~
lordnacho
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.

~~~
lonelappde
Those seem to contradict. Lower status males would be striving for a chance
reproduce, or having reproduced would need to work to elevate their
offspring's status.

~~~
lordnacho
The idea is if you've lost the race, let your genes that are carried by the
winners take your share of resources. That way your genes win anyway. The
individual organism is a lottery ticket.

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vezycash
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.)

~~~
austin_y
> 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.

I experienced the same thing recently by listening to a book on my drive
to/from work! I often listened to sections of the book a second time to catch
things I missed, or to help ideas sink in, and found that I could often
clearly picture the stretch of road on which I heard a passage.

~~~
copperx
This is just a modern twist of the memory palace technique known since ancient
times.

~~~
vezycash
>modern twist Just weird twist which triggers nostalgia

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honopu
I do a stair climber, 2000 steps 5 days a week. I think this has a pretty good
mix of cognitive and aerobic, I switch it up to skip steps, and stuff like
that. I've not really noticed a huge change in energy, but resting heart rate
etc have dropped considerably in the last year. I recommend a combo of this
with a podcast to stave off the boredom. Mental clarity wise, I feel like your
brain and body need the elevated heart rate etc, and this link seems to back
it up.

~~~
blackearl
Kettlebells have gotten a very bro-ey reputation but there are some great
exercises that are a good mix of cardio and mental focus. Regular swings can
get boring but learning to do snatches was punishing, yet fun, while forcing
me to pay attention to my technique. Would definitely recommend it.

~~~
adamqureshi
I started doing kettlebelle swings. I got upto doing about 70 swings and
follow it up with 40 sumo squats then 50 lifts. Takes me 12 min. The workout
is incredible and does not take long and i can do it at home. Trying to
improve my form without paying a coach. I watch you tube videos from that
russian guy pavel.

~~~
blackearl
I always had trouble with videos. Some of the nicer gyms near me do kettlebell
classes, so that might be worth it as a more cost effective way to get a
professional opinion.

If you learn how to do a good get-up, it's one of the best full body workouts.
10-15 of those, 80-100 swings, and you're basically doing simple and sinister.

My favorite part of it is I don't have to go for a run and I still get a great
cardio workout!

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deevolution
If you're like me an dread the monotony of working out give climbing a try!
Every climb is different which keeps the workout fresh and exciting and it
works out every core muscle group.

~~~
useful
Climbing reduces cortisol (stress hormone) by producing testosterone. I also
think fear makes you forget about everything but the problem and grounds you
in what matters in life (usually not work).

[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20963437](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20963437)

~~~
partyboat1586
I wonder what it is about climbing specifically that causes this or if it you
could get the same effect from say soccer.

~~~
scarecrowbob
I can't say for sure, but having played other sports and also spent a lot of
time climbing I don't think that I've experienced the same flavor of focus on
the basketball court or in a flow-state while mountain biking.

I feel like there is a different and very high-quality kind of focus that
comes from having to perform correctly or die.

~~~
barrkel
Ever ridden a motorcycle? That certainly triggers a flow state when you're on
a good curvy road, and the stakes are similarly real.

~~~
Cougher
High stakes/low reward (reward being the benefits of exercise).

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tchingy
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.

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friendlybus
The article or study is on to the beginning of something but it seems too
light on causal links to be substantial. The effects of BDNF and other brain
drugs have an entertaining defcon talk in the biohacking village. Cognitive
enhancing drugs stuff looks ripe for exploration, though the side effects are
concerning.

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

~~~
omarhaneef
You should try crossfit.

It is basically like Fight Club if the first two rules were the opposite.

~~~
tacon
Crossfit is great if you don't plan on needing your joints for a long life. As
Bill DeSimone, author of Congruent Exercise[0], explained in a podcast,
"Everyone gets a set of free passes. You decide if you want to use up all your
free passes." So don't do needlessly stupid things with your body that wear
out your joints any faster than necessary. Your 80 year old self will
appreciate not needing a walker. F=ma, it's the law. If you can stimulate the
adaptive response in your muscles with no acceleration, why would you ever do
anything faster than necessary?

[0] [https://www.amazon.com/Congruent-Exercise-Weight-Training-
Ea...](https://www.amazon.com/Congruent-Exercise-Weight-Training-
Easier/dp/1467930415), "Congruent Exercise: How To Make Weight Training Easier
On Your Joints"

[1]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8ZTIvJySiY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8ZTIvJySiY)

~~~
UweSchmidt
More generally, it's worth asking older athletes about their health issues, to
really appreciate what it means to have constant pain and physical limitations
due to wrong use of the body. I learned what kind of an ordeal is to have,
say, knee surgery. I came to appreciate the value of mobility and strength
excercises, and am sceptical at the general state of health of elderly people
in the west.

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didgeoridoo
For more on this, check out “ Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise
and the Brain” by Dr. John Ratey.

~~~
whalesalad
I came here to comment the same tip. Great book that goes deep into this.

[https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000SFD21Q](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000SFD21Q)

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starpilot
> For example, we recently showed that collegiate cross-country runners who
> train extensively on outdoor trails have increased connectivity among brain
> regions associated with executive cognitive functions compared with healthy
> but more sedentary young adults.

I've definitely noticed a cognitive boost when I switched from gym
weightlifting to cardio/endurance based on outdoors activities (trailrunning,
strenuous hikes). The latter has given me an intense calm and mental space to
work on problems that I did not get from weightlifting.

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FabHK
> we have developed a game designed to specifically challenge aspects of
> cognition that tend to decline with age and that are probably needed during
> foraging. In the game, players spatially navigate and complete attention and
> memory tasks while cycling at a moderate aerobic intensity level.

Sounds interesting and potentially fun. And it might provide more motivation
for exercise. Startup idea...

~~~
dartdartdart1
Or maybe host a tournament series where you host the top x amount of players
and they all have to play while on a treadmill haha

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peter303
There is a more interesting article in Scientific American and other places
that humans evolved requiring an hour of vigorous exercise a day to avoid
metabolic diseases like diabetes and dementia. Our closest relatives chimps
and gorillas dont require vigorous exercise.

~~~
stevenwoo
This article talks about this - it's the common hypothesis that switching to
bipedal movement several million years ago is linked to the branching from our
closest primate relatives, our diets changed to include hunting and a wider
foraging range, hand in hand with changes in physiology for more movement and
brain structure.

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fasteo
>>> Cognitively challenging exercise may benefit the brain more than physical
activity that makes fewer cognitive demand.

This. I have noticed a significant mental “clearing” since I started boxing.
Being forced to think when you are really tired is key.

~~~
Cougher
Boxing/fighting seems to be pretty popular and I wonder about the head shots .
. . how frequent and intense they may be in casual fighting. A lot is still
unknown about the brain damage that can result from this kind of activity,
particularly the subtle injuries that don't have an obvious single cause. I
think the effects are a lot worse than most people think and it's _NOT_ worth
it.

~~~
fasteo
I guess it really depends how the trainer organize his classes. In my case, my
trainer is a former European champion, he knows the potential danger and he
really cares about us. We use head protection, he pairs us wisely to avoid
accidental injuries, sparring is optional, and 75% of our time is shadow
boxing, heavy bag training and padding. So, we end up doing 3-4 rounds of
sparring per week. I may get a couple of soft jabs in my head.

~~~
Cougher
Like so many things, it's wise to evaluate the people who are teaching and the
methods that they use. I toyed with the idea, but I decided against it because
of my shoulders.

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newnewpdro
This is something I've observed personally, especially with running and
mountain biking.

It had me pondering if perhaps humans evolved to become smarter in response to
these frequent physical stressors. Like if we find ourselves regularly having
to outrun predators and/or chasing prey to survive, it would probably be
advantageous to grow smarter and depend less on endurance and speed.

So I've been taking an attitude that exercise is a faux form of brute-force
survival. That the body will respond both by becoming stronger _and_ smarter,
as long as it continues experiencing having to run miles regularly to survive.

~~~
eeZah7Ux
> regularly having to outrun predators and/or chasing prey to survive

"regularly" never happened. We are not cheetahs nor gazelles. Most popular
ideas around "hunters gatherers" are false.

Australian aboriginals are a good example of how most of humans lived.

~~~
newnewpdro
Citation needed.

My understanding is a major evolutionary advantage humans enjoyed is the
exceptional ability to pursue prey for sustained periods, effectively wearing
them out, thanks to our excellent endurance and the sophistication necessary
for pacing one self.

If you weren't being smart about it, and sprinted like a scared deer, you'd
exhaust yourself and fail. Well, perhaps that results in a mechanism of
smarting up when we're over-exerting ourselves regularly.

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paimpozhil
Badminton is a great sport that requires lot of thinking and very fast
movements and physical strength . I wish more people start playing that

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ctrlaltdylan
I'd love to know if there's an above average tendency for those interested or
working in the technology field also have a history with endurance related
sports. I know a lot of really talented developers that are into
biking/hiking/running.

~~~
sjy
I guess many of those sports are easily quantified, enhanced using technology
(eg. bike computers, maps, running apps), and accessible without the need to
be part of a larger social group.

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dnhz
The claim is that by running around outdoors, the brain gets used in a variety
of ways such as navigation, decision-making, and sensory processing. Then why
doesn't driving around in a car have similar benefits? Or does it?

~~~
jeltz
The same question could be asked for many video games, which require the same
things.

~~~
friendlybus
It says in the article that cognitively demanding video games + exercise
together equals more BDNF

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SensateCreature
Could it simply be because of exercising providing much needed break from
focusing on worries in one's life? If so, any activity that one can enter into
a state of flow can be beneficial.

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honopu
It's easy to say, but if you are focusing on what worries you, without doing
anything to work toward or resolve what is worrying you, it's really just
wasted mental energy. Once you can be honest with yourself about having done
everything you possibly/reasonably can to mitigate whatever you are worrying
about, then you can let it go.

~~~
SensateCreature
Definitely easier said than done.

There is even a tendency to fool ourselves into thinking that we have broken
free of it, whilst still having that feeling of worry simmering in the
background.

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tus88
I think if you are a programmer you are working out every day.

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levythe
Care to elaborate? The connection is not clear to me. Fine movements of
fingers and arms isn't exactly the same as intensive full body work.

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viburnum
Is there a scientific way to distinguish evolutionary biology from bourgeois
ideology?

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eeZah7Ux
I'm not sure about what you mean but a lot of completely made up "popular
science" seems to be easily sold as evolutionary science.

"Some people have longer ears than others. Maybe they were better able to hear
predators and avoid them and therefore theirs genes spread further..."

~~~
viburnum
Yeah, so much of it is made up just so stories, and those stories usually
flatter the ruling class. It’s fashionable for CEOs to work out, so of course
there’s a story about how it’s evolutionary biology reason that makes people
smarter or whatever. That article was pretty short on experimental evidence.

