Physical Activity and Cognitive Aging from an Evolutionary Neuroscience Perspective: An Update to the Adaptive Capacity Model

This chapter provides an update to the adaptive capacity model (ACM), which suggests that human brains evolved to function optimally under conditions of sustained, cognitively demanding physical activity. It integrates new evidence from foraging populations and contemporary exercise interventions, including open-skill exercise and exergaming, providing further support for the ACM. Recent findings show that traditional, physically active lifestyles are associated with slower brain atrophy and reduced dementia prevalence. Furthermore, emerging exercise paradigms that mimic, in some ways, ancestral cognitive-motor demands, such as orienteering, are linked with enhanced cognitive performance, likely via mechanisms involving brain-derived neurotrophic factor and other neurotrophins. Together, these data reinforce the central premise of the ACM and offer practical insights into designing more effective interventions by considering an evolutionary neuroscience perspective to preserve cognitive and brain health in aging populations.