Why to dump GPS -- informational

Why to dump GPS -- informational

(PhysOrg.com) -- McGill University researchers have presented three studies suggesting depending on GPS to navigate may have a negative effect on brain function, especially on the hippocampus, which is involved in memory and navigation processes.
There are two major ways of navigating: by spatial navigation or by stimulus-response methods. The spatial method uses landmarks and visual cues to develop cognitive maps that enable us to know where we are and how to get where we want to go. The second method relies on repeatedly traveling by the most efficient route, as though on auto-pilot. The second method will be familiar to those using GPS.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans were taken of older adults who were GPS and non-GPS users. The subjects accustomed to navigating by spatial means were found to have higher activity and a greater volume of grey matter in the hippocampus than those used to relying on GPS. These adults also did better on a standardized test used in the diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment, which often precedes the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.

The hippocampus is believed to be involved in memory and in navigation processes such as the ability to find new routes and identify short cuts. It is one of the first areas of the brain to be affected by Alzheimer’s disease, which results in memory loss and difficulties in spatial orientation.

An earlier study by University of London researchers showed that in London taxi drivers, who spend three years learning their way around London by spatial methods rather than GPS), part of their hippocampus is larger than in a control group of non-taxi drivers. See the PhysOrg article: http://www.physorg.com/news140336390.html, for example. As in the current research, the presence of a link does not necessarily show causality, and in the London cabbies, the sheer volume of knowledge they must gather may also be involved.

Neuroscientist Veronique Bohbot of McGill University in Montreal, Canada, said the results of the studies suggest using spatial memory regularly may improve the function of the hippocampus and could help ward off cognitive impairment as we age.

I have never used GPS so I don't have an opinion on this topic.

GPS is good for finding a place you ain't been to before - but don't forget to wear a tinfoil hat while using one.

We used to travel to the US all the time when I was a child. No GPS. My mom took care of my younger siblings, and I read the map. At 10, I had no clue, and got us lost many times. By 11, I had it down pat. I still won't travel without a paper map. And car GPSs are notoriously wrong, because even a brand new car, the maps are a few years old.

We used our Garmin when we were in California in 2011. It died somewhere near Petaluma. I negotiated us out of the Bay Area, with no map, and no GPS. I used to live there, till I was 8, and I guess I was paying attention, and they sure never changed those freeways and interchanges much since the 1950s!

When we travel out of state, I am in the habit asking for directions from Police or Fire Department. I keep thank you gifts in the car to give to them. One time after getting directions from a Police Officer, he realized that he sent me the wrong way on a one way street that was not well marked. He caught up with me directed me by speaker to pull into a parking lot. He explained the situation. My Wife took over driving. He gave us a map and marked out the correct routes for everywhere we wanted to go. When we got home we sent his Station a thank you card leaving out the mistake.

Don't ask Pizza places for directions. In Gas Stations look for an older person.

I'm a paper map guy, but I can function with a GPS. For several years, I was involved in building the kind of datasets that GPS units would later utilize. I don't have a voice-command unit; that would just annoy me. It may have more information, but I'm the one driving!

Last year I was trying to locate a store in NE Calgary. I knew the general area, and although the store was a few feet from the street, it was a half-mile of twisty roads through a light-industrial area to get there. Google Maps may have helped....

Before driving to a place I've never been to before, I use Google Map and street view of the key points along the route. Even our maid uses GPS, but I don't. Global Positioning System is extremely precise, if we consider the distance signals must travel from satellites to our cellphones, but sometimes the software doesn't choose the best route. There are reports of people who got killed because the GPS drove them through dangerous neighborhoods.

My Brothers GPS had him going in circles in our neighborhood. We live in the most south road. There are only three North South Roads and five East West roads. He drove around for hours before calling me. He had a map in the car of the neighborhood with the two most direct routes marked.

Anything involving wi fi is harmful to humans.