Smartphone navigation apps 'switch off' parts of the brain
Satnavs 'switch off' parts of the brain
Using a satnav to get to your destination 'switches off'
parts of the brain that would otherwise be used to simulate different routes,
reveals new UCL research
This map shows the 'degree centrality' of all the streets
in central London. This reflects how many other streets are connected to each
street, with blue representing simple streets with few connecting streets and
red representing complex streets with many connecting streets. CREDIT: JOAO
PINELO SILVA
PUBLIC RELEASE: 21-MAR-2017
Using a satnav to get to your destination 'switches off'
parts of the brain that would otherwise be used to simulate different routes,
reveals new UCL research.
The study, published in Nature Communications and funded
by Wellcome, involved 24 volunteers navigating a simulation of Soho in central
London while undergoing brain scans. The researchers investigated activity in
the hippocampus, a brain region involved in memory and navigation, and the
prefrontal cortex which is involved in planning and decision-making. They also
mapped the labyrinth of London's streets to understand how these brain regions
reacted to them.
When volunteers navigated manually, their hippocampus and
prefrontal cortex had spikes of activity when volunteers entered new streets.
This brain activity was greater when the number of options to choose from
increased, but no additional activity was detected when people followed satnav
instructions.
"Entering a junction such as Seven Dials in London,
where seven streets meet, would enhance activity in the hippocampus, whereas a
dead-end would drive down its activity. If you are having a hard time
navigating the mass of streets in a city, you are likely putting high demands
on your hippocampus and prefrontal cortex," explains senior author Dr Hugo
Spiers (UCL Experimental Psychology). "Our results fit with models in
which the hippocampus simulates journeys on future possible paths while the
prefrontal cortex helps us to plan which ones will get us to our destination.
When we have technology telling us which way to go, however, these parts of the
brain simply don't respond to the street network. In that sense our brain has
switched off its interest in the streets around us."
Previous UCL research has shown that the hippocampi of
London taxi drivers expand as they learn 'the Knowledge', memorising the
streets and landmarks of central London. The latest study suggests that drivers
who follow satnav directions do not engage their hippocampus, likely limiting any
learning of the city street network.
The team have also analysed the street networks of major
cities around the world to visualise how easy they may be to navigate. With its
complex network of small streets, London appears to be particularly taxing on
the hippocampus. By contrast, much less mental effort may be needed to navigate
Manhattan in New York. With its grid layout, at most junctions you can only go
straight, left or right.
Senior author Dr Hugo Spiers is now on secondment as
Director of Science at The Centric Lab, a consultancy and research organisation
in London that uses neuroscience to inform building and city design.
"The next step for our lab will be working with
smart tech companies, developers, and architects to help design spaces that are
easier to navigate and increase wellbeing," says Dr Spiers. "Our new
findings allow us to look at the layout of a city or building and consider how
the memory systems of the brain may likely react. For example, we could look at
the layouts of care homes and hospitals to identify areas that might be
particularly challenging for people with dementia and help to make them easier
to navigate. Similarly, we could design new buildings that are
dementia-friendly from the outset."
Dr Amir-Homayoun Javadi who led the brain imaging
analysis at UCL and now works at the University of Kent, says:
"Understanding how the environment affects our brain is important. My
research group is now exploring how physical and cognitive activity affect
brain activity in a positive way. Satnavs clearly have their uses and their
limitations."
Dr Beatrix Emo, who led the city street analysis at UCL
and now works at ETH Zurich, says: "Linking the structure of cities to
behaviour has been around since the 1980s, but this is the first study to
reveal the impact of that structure on the brain."
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The research was conducted at UCL with a collaboration
between scientists and architecture experts from UCL, the University of Kent,
ETH Zurich, the German Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases, the University of
Hertfordshire and the University of Bahrain. This work was supported by
Wellcome, the James S. McDonnell Foundation and the UK Biotechnology and
Biological Sciences Research Council. Dr Spiers' secondment at the Centric Lab
is funded by the Medical Research Council.
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