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| Photo by National Geographic |
Stop relying so much on the GPS.
Some neuroscientists
believe that as we become increasingly dependent upon that gadget on the
dashboard to tell us where to go, our ability to form mental maps
increasingly may atrophy. So, scary as it seems, try turning it off at
least occasionally and using your own senses, memory and imagination to
get to where you’re going.
Look at what's around you. We’ve become so accustomed to using directional gadgets and following lists of directions that we often ignore our surroundings, which deprives us of the visual data that we need to form associations and mentally map our surroundings. Neuroscientists actually can see the effects of this laziness in brain scans. People who are reliant upon directions actually have less grey matter in the hippocampus area of their brains than people who navigate by visualizing their relative position to their surroundings and destination. Try to notice and remember features of the environment—distinctive
buildings, trees, monuments, landscaping—that will help you to form a
more detailed mental picture.
But the best way to improve your navigational abilities is to practice
using both of these methods at once. He suggests picking a landmark,
looking at it, and then locating it on a map, so that you can calibrate
your ability to calculate distance as well.
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