Quotes from Caroline Williams

The brain evolved not for us to think but to allow us to move – away from danger and towards rewards.

Do not worry about your difficulties in Mathematics. I can assure you mine are still greater. —Albert Einstein

French neuroscientist Stanislas Dehaene has found that the less accurate, "there or thereabouts" bits of math processing uses visual and spatial brain areas, whereas the exact stuff requires the same areas as language processing.2 So to some extent, being a words person and a numbers person are kind of the same thing.

But research coming from the fields of evolutionary biology, physiology and neuroscience is all pointing to the fact that walking a lot, and running a little, made our species what it is today. If we don't do it enough, we risk losing our mental and emotional edge.

As a result, our biological baseline is to be on our feet, moving and thinking at the same time. If we don't do it, our brains make the sensible decision to save energy by cutting brain capacity. In better news, when we get on our feet and move, it primes the brain to be alert and to learn.

The downside is that walking isn't quite enough to bring on a high unless it leaves you seriously breathless. The feeling-great part only really kicks in after an intense run at a pace where it's difficult to hold a conversation.

That the past feels more distant as we physically move forwards is important, because a major risk factor for depression is the tendency to ruminate, getting stuck in a loop of over-analyzing things you've said, done or experienced in the past while getting steadily more despondent. Physically moving forwards can help prevent this by making the bad stuff seem further behind you.

When you get the urge to do a cartwheel in the supermarket, say something inappropriate in a meeting or run a red light, this is the part of the brain that jumps in and reminds you not to be so stupid. It's a useful feature in all kinds of situations and saves us a lot of time and potential embarrassment, but the downside is that it does the same job for ideas, shutting down thoughts that are a bit out there but which might just work.