#spatialnavigation — Public Fediverse posts

Taxi Drivers Rarely Die Of Alzheimer’s – How Complex Mental Maps And Spatial Reasoning Protect Your Brain [why knowing your way around might help you stay sharp]
--
https://theconversation.com/taxi-drivers-rarely-die-of-alzheimers-how-complex-mental-maps-and-spatial-reasoning-protect-your-brain-286650 <-- shared technical article
--
https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2024-082194 <-- shared paper
--
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.070039597 <-- shared paper
--
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41582-018-0031-x <-- shared paper
--
https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/taxis-and-private-hire/licensing/learn-the-knowledge-of-london <-- details of @Transport for London’s ‘The Knowledge’ details
--
https://youtu.be/u7gp8KBP7ak?si=X1xXcysZF2LayFkx <-- shared video, ‘The People Who Have To Remember 25,000 Streets | The [London] Knowledge - The World's Toughest Taxi Test’
--
H/T @ Jennifer Psillas, GISP | GIS Project Manager at City of Tucson Parks and Recreation
“Taxi and ambulance drivers are less likely than workers in almost any other job to die of Alzheimer’s disease. That was the surprising result of a 2024 study examining the death certificates of nearly 9 million people in the U.S…
Of the 9 million death certificates from January 2020 to December 2022 that researchers examined, taxi and ambulance drivers had the lowest risk of dying from Alzheimer’s disease out of 443 occupations. After adjusting for age, sex, race, ethnicity and education, roughly 1 in 100 taxi and ambulance drivers died of Alzheimer’s, compared with 1 in 60 people overall.
This pattern did not extend to other driving jobs. The researchers concluded that the key to reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s was not driving itself but continuous real-time navigation: the constant work of locating yourself in space, tracking a destination and updating a mental map as conditions change. Drivers whose jobs relied on fixed or predetermined routes, like bus drivers and aircraft pilots, didn’t seem to experience a similar advantage.
Researchers believe the association between navigation-heavy work and lower Alzheimer’s risk centers on the hippocampus, a part of the brain that governs memory and spatial navigation. It’s one of the first brain regions that Alzheimer’s damages: Problems with spatial navigation and orientation are among the earliest signs of the disease, sometimes surfacing before obvious memory loss.
In one landmark 2000 study [link above], neuroscientists compared the brains of licensed London taxi drivers with those of people who did not drive cabs. Their findings provided the first evidence via structural imaging that regions of the adult brain can measurably change under sustained navigational demand. To earn a license, London cabbies must memorize more than 25,000 streets within a 6-mile radius of Charing Cross, a challenge known as “The Knowledge” that takes three to four years…”
#spatialnavigation #orientation #mental #acuity #taxi #ambulance #paramedic #TheKnowledge #London #UK #Alzheimer #mapping #mentalmaps #spatialmapping #navigation #spatialreasoning #brain #hippocampus #brainhealth #death #mortality #disease #publichealth #scans #occupation #job

Taxi Drivers Rarely Die Of Alzheimer’s – How Complex Mental Maps And Spatial Reasoning Protect Your Brain [why knowing your way around might help you stay sharp]
--
https://theconversation.com/taxi-drivers-rarely-die-of-alzheimers-how-complex-mental-maps-and-spatial-reasoning-protect-your-brain-286650 <-- shared technical article
--
https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2024-082194 <-- shared paper
--
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.070039597 <-- shared paper
--
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41582-018-0031-x <-- shared paper
--
https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/taxis-and-private-hire/licensing/learn-the-knowledge-of-london <-- details of @Transport for London’s ‘The Knowledge’ details
--
https://youtu.be/u7gp8KBP7ak?si=X1xXcysZF2LayFkx <-- shared video, ‘The People Who Have To Remember 25,000 Streets | The [London] Knowledge - The World's Toughest Taxi Test’
--
H/T @ Jennifer Psillas, GISP | GIS Project Manager at City of Tucson Parks and Recreation
“Taxi and ambulance drivers are less likely than workers in almost any other job to die of Alzheimer’s disease. That was the surprising result of a 2024 study examining the death certificates of nearly 9 million people in the U.S…
Of the 9 million death certificates from January 2020 to December 2022 that researchers examined, taxi and ambulance drivers had the lowest risk of dying from Alzheimer’s disease out of 443 occupations. After adjusting for age, sex, race, ethnicity and education, roughly 1 in 100 taxi and ambulance drivers died of Alzheimer’s, compared with 1 in 60 people overall.
This pattern did not extend to other driving jobs. The researchers concluded that the key to reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s was not driving itself but continuous real-time navigation: the constant work of locating yourself in space, tracking a destination and updating a mental map as conditions change. Drivers whose jobs relied on fixed or predetermined routes, like bus drivers and aircraft pilots, didn’t seem to experience a similar advantage.
Researchers believe the association between navigation-heavy work and lower Alzheimer’s risk centers on the hippocampus, a part of the brain that governs memory and spatial navigation. It’s one of the first brain regions that Alzheimer’s damages: Problems with spatial navigation and orientation are among the earliest signs of the disease, sometimes surfacing before obvious memory loss.
In one landmark 2000 study [link above], neuroscientists compared the brains of licensed London taxi drivers with those of people who did not drive cabs. Their findings provided the first evidence via structural imaging that regions of the adult brain can measurably change under sustained navigational demand. To earn a license, London cabbies must memorize more than 25,000 streets within a 6-mile radius of Charing Cross, a challenge known as “The Knowledge” that takes three to four years…”
#spatialnavigation #orientation #mental #acuity #taxi #ambulance #paramedic #TheKnowledge #London #UK #Alzheimer #mapping #mentalmaps #spatialmapping #navigation #spatialreasoning #brain #hippocampus #brainhealth #death #mortality #disease #publichealth #scans #occupation #job

DATE: August 8, 2026 at 11:21PM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY MIND-BRAIN FEED

TITLE: Stress can scramble your brain’s internal GPS, MRI study finds

URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260807035151.htm

Stress may literally scramble the brain’s internal GPS. Researchers found that cortisol, a hormone released during stress, made people significantly worse at navigating a virtual environment and disrupted the precise activity of grid cells, specialized brain cells that help us understand where we are in space. When landmarks were missing, this navigation system nearly stopped functioning, while another brain region appeared to step in and compensate.

URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260807035151.htm

-------------------------------------------------

Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org

Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot

-------------------------------------------------

#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #StressAndBrain #GPSInTheBrain #CortisolEffects #GridCells #SpatialNavigation #Neuroscience #BrainResearch #VirtualNavigation #StressImpact #CognitiveHealth

DATE: August 8, 2026 at 11:21PM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY MIND-BRAIN FEED

TITLE: Stress can scramble your brain’s internal GPS, MRI study finds

URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260807035151.htm

Stress may literally scramble the brain’s internal GPS. Researchers found that cortisol, a hormone released during stress, made people significantly worse at navigating a virtual environment and disrupted the precise activity of grid cells, specialized brain cells that help us understand where we are in space. When landmarks were missing, this navigation system nearly stopped functioning, while another brain region appeared to step in and compensate.

URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260807035151.htm

-------------------------------------------------

Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org

Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot

-------------------------------------------------

#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #StressAndBrain #GPSInTheBrain #CortisolEffects #GridCells #SpatialNavigation #Neuroscience #BrainResearch #VirtualNavigation #StressImpact #CognitiveHealth

🗺️🐀 How does the #brain map uneven terrain? New paper by @rmgrieves, @elduvelle_neuro & Taube suggests that the #hippocampal map is shaped by terrain #geometry itself, not only by where the animal runs. Slopes, ridges & surface contours may act as spatial structure for #PlaceCells. Read more about in the 🧵👇

📄 https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adz9893
"Hippocampal #PlaceCells map terrain geometry independently of #behavior"

#Hippocampus #SpatialNavigation #Neuroscience https://fediscience.org/@rmgrieves/116692850991318267

🗺️🐀 How does the #brain map uneven terrain? New paper by @rmgrieves, @elduvelle_neuro & Taube suggests that the #hippocampal map is shaped by terrain #geometry itself, not only by where the animal runs. Slopes, ridges & surface contours may act as spatial structure for #PlaceCells. Read more about in the 🧵👇

📄 https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adz9893
"Hippocampal #PlaceCells map terrain geometry independently of #behavior"

#Hippocampus #SpatialNavigation #Neuroscience https://fediscience.org/@rmgrieves/116692850991318267

Modeling suggests that sparse #CA3 input can speed up #learning of new #SpatialMaps, while dense #CA1 coding provides a more efficient, compressed representation for large-scale #navigation.

🧵2/2

#Neuroscience #Hippocampus #SpatialNavigation #NeuralDynamics

Modeling suggests that sparse #CA3 input can speed up #learning of new #SpatialMaps, while dense #CA1 coding provides a more efficient, compressed representation for large-scale #navigation.

🧵2/2

#Neuroscience #Hippocampus #SpatialNavigation #NeuralDynamics

New paper by Maimon et al (Ulanovsky lab): recordings from #bats flying through tunnels up to 200 m reveal a sparse-to-dense transformation between #hippocampal #CA3 and #CA1.

In small environments, CA3 and CA1 #PlaceCells look similar. At large spatial scales, however, CA3 #neurons mostly show single, ultrasparse #PlaceFields, while CA1 neurons show dense multifield coding.

🌍 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10537-0

🧵1/2

#Neuroscience #Hippocampus #SpatialNavigation #NeuralDynamics

New paper by Maimon et al (Ulanovsky lab): recordings from #bats flying through tunnels up to 200 m reveal a sparse-to-dense transformation between #hippocampal #CA3 and #CA1.

In small environments, CA3 and CA1 #PlaceCells look similar. At large spatial scales, however, CA3 #neurons mostly show single, ultrasparse #PlaceFields, while CA1 neurons show dense multifield coding.

🌍 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10537-0

🧵1/2

#Neuroscience #Hippocampus #SpatialNavigation #NeuralDynamics

#SpatialCognition question: any studies that show that if you learn a response (e.g. "turn left at choice point) in one environment, you are more likely to repeat this response in a new environment?

So, "response #generalisation" ?

I'm pretty sure this is a thing but can't find a good study to cite about it...

#SpatialNavigation #Neuroscience

#SpatialCognition question: any studies that show that if you learn a response (e.g. "turn left at choice point) in one environment, you are more likely to repeat this response in a new environment?

So, "response #generalisation" ?

I'm pretty sure this is a thing but can't find a good study to cite about it...

#SpatialNavigation #Neuroscience

During task performance, the brain must integrate information re goal-related objects with contextual details. This study shows that participants' performance on a #SpatialNavigation task is related to syncing of activity between #hippocampus & #EntorhinalCortex @PLOSBiology https://plos.io/3Vrw8id

During task performance, the brain must integrate information re goal-related objects with contextual details. This study shows that participants' performance on a #SpatialNavigation task is related to syncing of activity between #hippocampus & #EntorhinalCortex @PLOSBiology https://plos.io/3Vrw8id

🧠 New study by Asumbisa, Peyrache & Trenholm (2025): Stereo #olfaction underlies stable #coding of #HeadDirection in blind mice. Inhibiting #odor detection in just one nostril, or removing the spatial difference in airflow, disrupts head direction cell tuning and impairs mice’s spatial orientation → stereo smell is essential for using olfactory cues to form a stable, #allocentric sense of direction.

🌍 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58847-7

#Neuroscience #SpatialNavigation #Olfaction

People who use rats in #SpatialCognition tasks, or decision-making tasks, which strain do you prefer? 🐀

(Ideally, please comment on why!)
(Multiple choices possible if you really have to)

#NeuroRats #Neuroscience #SpatialNavigation

Old navigation papers always have hidden gems in them..

"This training period was marked by only two events of unusual interest. The first was an electric storm which occurred during the 18th trial. Thunder and lightning were almost incessant throughout this trial period. A large tree near the building was shattered by lightning. On this trial there was a great increase in average time, and a slight increase in the average number of errors. The other event, which occurred at the 22nd trial, was an unusually hot day-mercury at 103 F. The rats seemed almost overcome, and, upon being placed in the water, would float for a considerable length of time before starting to swim down the maze pathway. The average time was greatly increased. The errors, however, did not increase appreciably."

Source: The Rôle of Kinaesthesis in the Establishment and Control of the Maze Habit by Sol Evans, @johnwidloski pointed me to it

#SpatialNavigation #NeuroRats

New #FosterLab preprint, looking very interesting, as usual:
Replay without sharp wave ripples in a spatial memory task

#HippocampalReplay #HippocampalRipples #Hippocampus #SpatialNavigation #Need2Read

Songs that are about #science are great - like this one about gender differences in spatial navigation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5_HhqcbF_0

#GenderDifferences #SpatialNavigation #Psychostick

Songs that are about #science are great - like this one about gender differences in spatial navigation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5_HhqcbF_0

#GenderDifferences #SpatialNavigation #Psychostick

@aidanhorner Hi! I am a graduate student at Rutgers working on #spatialnavigation - looking at the interplay of social and non-social factor in navigational choices