Cognitive performance in relation to persistence hunting and meat consumption

The evolution of the human body and brain over the last two million years may have selected for traits for endurance running in addition to larger more expensive brains. The running hypothesis and the art of tracking hypothesis were used as a theoretical framework for hypothesizing particular cognitive abilities accompanied encephalization. Selection favored these cognitive abilities to improve access to high quality foods such as meat. Meat is thought to have been attained in part through persistence hunting which requires relentless pursuit of an animal over very long distances (17 km or more). During this pursuit hunters invest a great deal of effort in running and also in tracking animals. It is possible that chemicals in meat such as creatine help ameliorate the costs of mental fatigue in persistence hunts by improving or maintaining cognitive performance.;This study aimed to test whether creatine improved cognitive performance before and after long distance runs. Methods involved a survey assessing meat consumption levels in long distance runners accompanied by two tests of fluid intelligence where one test was given pre-race and a second test was given post-race. Results for this study found meat consumption was not significant for meat eating subjects that ran 4.5 km or longer (n=38 and p=.324) and a significant finding for female runners that ate meat (n=15 and p=.025). The lack of a similar significant finding in males is thought to be related to sample size, adherence of subjects to test protocols, and problems measuring meat consumption. Interpretation of these findings lead to the conclusion that more research is needed to find out if meat consumption improves cognitive performance in fluid intelligence for long distance runners. The significant finding for female runners does appear to offer limited support for the running hypothesis and the art of tracking hypothesis.