The Evolution of Human Physical Activity
Tatum Simonson, UC San Diego School of Medicine
Dan Lieberman, Harvard University
Access to the live webcast for this symposium will be provided here on Friday, May 15 starting at 1:00 PM (Pacific Time). Viewers will need to be logged into their user account to gain access, but are not required to register for this symposium.
Exercise is well known to provide many health benefits, and human physical activities differ significantly from other species. Although hunter-gatherers sometimes climb and fight, they also walk long distances bipedally (the topic of a previous CARTA symposium) as well as run, dig, throw, carry and more. How, when and why did these capabilities evolve? What genetic, physiological and anatomical adaptations underlie them? And how did the evolution of human physical activity affect other key human characteristics such as enlarged brains, high-quality diets, extended life-history strategies, gene-culture co-evolution and high levels of cooperation? To address these and other related questions, this symposium will integrate research on genetics, biomechanics, physiology, neurobiology and behavior. Because more and more humans today are primarily sedentary, we will also explore implications of the evolution of human physical activity for contemporary health and disease.
Event Sessions
| Date | Session Title | Speakers |
|---|---|---|
| Fri 5/15 | Evolutionary Genetics of the Human Athletic Phenotype | Ellen Breen, UC San Diego |
| Fri 5/15 | The Anatomical Basis of Aggression in Hominins | David Carrier, University of Utah |
| Fri 5/15 | Physical Activity and Energy Allocation | Grazyna Jasienska, Jagiellonian University Collegium Medicum |
| Fri 5/15 | Evolution of Human Thermoregulation | Yana Kamberov, University of Pennsylvania |
| Fri 5/15 | The Evolution of Walking and Running | Dan Lieberman, Harvard University |
| Fri 5/15 | The Evolution of Human Exercise Metabolism | Herman Pontzer, Hunter College CUNY |
| Fri 5/15 | Evolutionary links between physical activity and the brain | David Raichlen, University of Southern California |
| Fri 5/15 | Human Adaptation to High Altitudes and Aquatic Environments | Tatum Simonson, UC San Diego School of Medicine |
