On a recent trip, I began to think a lot about the merits of the old-fashioned map. To get from Point A to Point B, we initially thought it would be a good idea to print out directions from Google maps or MapQuest. We were driving along merrily, confident that our directions would lead us to the hotel from the airport, when they led us right into the parking lot of a big box store. We asked a customer how to get back onto the right road, and, apparently through clear memory and perhaps practice, she immediately gave us excellent directions. We got back onto the right road and proceeded to continue to use our MapQuest directions, successfully arriving at the hotel. The next time we had to make a tricky drive, the directions (or rather more likely, our interpretation of the directions) led us in the complete opposite direction, and it took us quite some time to get back to where we needed to go. Having had a similar experience during a trip about a month ago while mindlessly following directions from Siri, I was ready to return to good old-fashioned methods: maps and street signs. I’m sure I’m not alone in discovering that, when I rely on verbal directions to get from place to place, my brain basically turns off. I stop creating a vision or mental map of where I’m going, because I’m relying so much on rules and directions. It’s a lot like sitting in the backseat of a car while someone else drives and navigates. Even though you have travelled the route several times, if you need to do it yourself, you probably won’t be able to do it without a map or directions. This is probably because, when someone else is navigating, you don’t have to use your brain to visualize or figure out where you’re going. I was initially thinking about this problem from the perspective of rules. Rules can be incredibly helpful in daily life, but when we blindly rely on or overuse rules, they can prevent us from thinking or learning from our experience. In fact, I was planning on making this blog all about the dangers of over-relying on rules. Coincidentally, however, when I returned from my trip, some new and interesting research conducted by researchers in London was getting a lot of press. These researchers did an innovative study to examine the effects on our brains of navigating with and without GPS-style assistance. I won’t reiterate their findings here, as the article is freely available through an open access journal (http://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms14652). The bottom line, unsurprisingly, is that the hippocampus is involved in having a mental map or vision of where you are going, and when you have to make a navigational decisions, the prefrontal cortex is involved. Researchers have argued that systems such as GPS largely remove the need to exercise these brain regions. And, from what we know about neural plasticity, our brains are a lot like muscles: Keeping them fit and in good shape involves exercise (both mental and physical). So, consider turning off the GPS and picking up a map. Challenge yourself to try out different routes from place to place. Put yourself in a position where you have to make challenging decisions about where to go, using your own brain rather than following rules or directions. ~ Alexander L. Chapman, Ph.D., R.Psych.