Physical exercise as an evolutionary force

Physical exercise is an integral part of the history of our species. It is proposed that our ability to run long distances in the heat was a selective advantage which allowed our ancestors with otherwise modest physical endowments to endure. Further, it is proposed that the concomitant physiological adaptation to high levels of physical activity facilitated the development of our enlarged brain and enabled our geographic dispersion into diverse environments. Failure to recognize the significance of this active heritage poses a threat to the continued well-being of the species.

[1]  J. Altman.  Differences in the Utilization of Tritiated Leucine by Single Neurones in Normal and Exercised Rats : An Autoradiographic Investigation with Microdensitometry , 1963, Nature.

[2]  J. Pettigrew,et al.  Preservation of binocularity after monocular deprivation in the striate cortex of kittens treated with 6‐Hydroxydopamine , 1979, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[3]  J. Waterlow,et al.  Nutritional adaptation in man , 1985 .

[4]  C. Lovejoy,et al.  Strength and robusticity of the Neandertal tibia , 1980 .

[5]  Louw,et al.  Incipient capture myopathy as revealed by blood chemistry of chased zebras , 1973 .

[6]  M. Diamond,et al.  Extensive cortical depth measurements and neuron size increases in the cortex of environmentally enriched rats , 1967 .

[7]  H. Stephan,et al.  QUANTITATIVE COMPARATIVE NEUROANATOMY OF PRIMATES: AN ATTEMPT AT A PHYLOGENETIC INTERPRETATION * , 1969 .

[8]  E. Vrba,et al.  The Evolution of the Advanced Hominid Brain [and Comments and Reply] , 1983, Current Anthropology.

[9]  J. Oey.  Noradrenaline induces morphological alterations in nucleated and enucleated rat C6 glioma cells , 1975, Nature.

[10]  A. Kortlandt,et al.  How might early hominids have defended themselves against large predators and food competitors , 1980 .

[11]  J. Barchas,et al.  Catecholamines, dopamine, and endorphin levels during extreme exercise. , 1981, The New England journal of medicine.

[12]  A. Zihlman,et al.  Plates, climate and hominoid evolution , 1983 .

[13]  J. Tanaka.  Subsistence Ecology Of Central Kalahari San , 1976 .

[14]  D. Robertshaw,et al.  A comparison of sweat gland activity in eight species of East African bovids , 1969, The Journal of physiology.

[15]  Nancy Howell.  6 The Population of the Dobe Area !Kung , 1976 .

[16]  Richard Lee,et al.  What hunters do for a living, or, how to make out on scarce resources , 1968 .

[17]  J. T. Stern,et al.  The locomotor anatomy of Australopithecus afarensis. , 1983, American journal of physical anthropology.

[18]  S. Washburn,et al.  The Evolution of Hunting , 1968 .

[19]  V. Finch.  Thermoregulation and heat balance of the East African eland and hartebeest. , 1972, The American journal of physiology.

[20]  S. Arieti.  American Handbook of Psychiatry , 1960 .

[21]  E. Bennett,et al.  Relations between chemistry and problem-solving among rats raised in enriched and impoverished environments. , 1962, Journal of comparative and physiological psychology.

[22]  Lovejoy Co.  The origin of man. , 1981 .

[23]  Dave D. Davis,et al.  Seasonal Variability in Early Hominid Predation , 1976, Science.

[24]  W. Martin,et al.  Chronic response of rat brain norepinephrine and serotonin levels to endurance training , 1979 .

[25]  The Emergence of Darwinism , 2015, Perspectives in biology and medicine.

[26]  Robert E. Dustman,et al.  Aerobic exercise training and improved neuropsychological function of older individuals , 1984, Neurobiology of Aging.