What's Happening Inside Our Brains When We Navigate

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4.3 • 4.5K Ratings

🗓️ 26 January 2022

⏱️ 29 minutes

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Summary

Most of us also know how good we are at navigating. If you rate yourself on a scale of one to ten, a scientific test will likely give you about the same score.

Scientist and science writer Christopher Kemp rates himself a one out of ten. He sometimes gets lost in his own neighborhood. His lack of navigation skills align with a condition known as developmental topographical disorientation, or DTD, which is passed down genetically. His wife, in comparison, is excellent at finding her way, and can easily orient herself in new places. That stark contrast inspired an investigation into the neuroscience of navigation.

Why do some humans navigate better than others? What happens when we rely on GPS devices instead of our internal sense of direction? What's going on inside our brains when we try to find our way?

Kemp helps us navigate these questions and more.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	I seem to have an ability to visualize the map in my head.
0:12.4	I'm able to do something like drop pins onto the map for where I know I am and I'm able
0:18.3	to keep track of where I am in relation to a destination.
0:22.8	An example is I was backpacking in the mountains of Colorado.
0:26.8	I passed a suitable camping site but couldn't find another before dark.
0:31.4	I was able to navigate back to the suitable site in the dark probably about a mile distance
0:37.8	in the forest.
0:40.1	Navigation is critical to humanity's survival.
0:43.1	Some scientists believe our wayfinding abilities were the crucial skill that differentiated
0:47.8	homosapiens from deanderthals and led to modern civilization.
0:52.1	And while some of our brains are excellent at navigation, others, handrails here, not
0:57.5	so much.
0:58.5	It turns out if you rate your sense of direction on a 1-10 scale, you'll probably give yourself
1:03.2	about the same score as a scientific test would.
1:06.2	So we asked you to do just that.
1:08.2	I'd rate my sense of direction at like an 8.5 possibly, possibly a 9.
1:14.8	Very rarely have I been turned around or lose my sense of direction.
1:18.7	I strongly believe that my navigation skills are really, really good having been a private
1:24.6	pilot for 50 years or so.
1:27.0	I very seldom get lost either on the ground or in the air.
1:30.9	So yes, we heard from a few very confident navigators, but many, many more of you sounded
1:36.6	like this.
	...

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