Using satnav 'switches off' parts of the brain, study suggests - Sensationalist Headlines

[url]https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/mar/21/all-mapped-out-using-satnav-switches-off-parts-of-the-brain-study-suggests-navigation[/url] [QUOTE]The study found that characteristic brain activity linked to simulating the different possible routes for a journey appears to be entirely absent when a person is following directions rather than independently planning a route. Hugo Spiers, the neuroscientist who led the work at University College London, explained: “When we have technology telling us which way to go ... these parts of the brain simply don’t respond to the street network. In that sense our brain has switched off its interest in the streets around us.” The findings might explain the disastrous journeys that occasionally result from GPS glitches, a phenomenon that rangers at Death Valley national park in California refer to as “death by GPS”. This mental disengagement might also account for why people who consistently rely on satnav can struggle to remember the directions on a route they have taken many times before. [/QUOTE]

Makes sense, really. By relying on a line or dot that tells you handily where to go, you don't need to expend more brain power to memorize things since it's easy to follow. You can even apply the same logic to quest markers in video games, I know I don't memorize shit if I just head for a place and I often take the most impractically direct route possible in the process.

Is this why new gamers from the past decade are shit at playing Doom and Quake? You know since there's a fat message on the screen telling them to move in a straight line, rather than hunt for objects inside a complex building to progress to the next level.

This has never occurred with me; If I am going on a long trip I tend to have a long look at the path I wish to travel and plan out what path to take. Shortly before setting off I check traffic conditions (crashes/roadworks/etc) and adjust accordingly. That said, I have a near eidetic memory when it comes to locations to the point where I creep friends out after having visited their place once years ago.

[QUOTE=RikohZX;51994973]Makes sense, really. By relying on a line or dot that tells you handily where to go, you don't need to expend more brain power to memorize things since it's easy to follow. You can even apply the same logic to quest markers in video games, I know I don't memorize shit if I just head for a place and I often take the most impractically direct route possible in the process.[/QUOTE] This is part of what really fucks up games like Skyrim. How often do you really stop to explore or take in the environment, vs barreling through the woods with the amount of engagement going on being so low that you may as well just be staring at a picture of the marker icon while holding down W for 10 minutes

[QUOTE=Mister Sandman;51995136]This is part of what really fucks up games like Skyrim. How often do you really stop to explore or take in the environment, vs barreling through the woods with the amount of engagement going on being so low that you may as well just be staring at a picture of the marker icon while holding down W for 10 minutes[/QUOTE] Yeah honestly I know my way around morrowind much better than the next games. Same goes for San Andreas and the later games adding a literal sat nav appropiately enough

[QUOTE=SirJon;51995156]Yeah honestly I know my way around morrowind much better than the next games. Same goes for San Andreas and the later games adding a literal sat nav appropiately enough[/QUOTE] This is so true now that I think about it. I recall memorizing all the nooks and crannies in Vice City. Also trust a video game forum to draw these comparisons :fap:

My old ass SatNav barely works anyway, it's not been updated in 7 years and due to urban renewal and development in general, a lot of road layouts have changed. It'll tell me to do something and I'll end up in the wrong lane taking the wrong turning, simple shit I would have noticed if I'd just [I]paid attention[/I] instead of following whatever orders the SatNav is barking. Navigation is one thing I'm actually pretty good at, I don't even know why I bother with a SatNav half the time. These days if I'm heading somewhere I'm unfamiliar with I tend to just memorise the route and only use the SatNav in emergencies.

Does this apply to routes in open world videogames?

Breaking News: GPS makes life easier! If I go anywhere outside my area I still plan the route beforehand and find some landmarks to orient myself.

[QUOTE=Teddybeer;51995063]Before you can learn shit the matches in modern games are over if you fuck up there is a healer to rescue you and when you lose you get dropped a few ranks so the feeling of losing quickly gets replaced winning a lot against cannon fodder. And you get constantly rewarded with boxes with the same chance as in any lottery to get something good. Pretty much traps designed to keep people playing. But generally when they say a part of the brain shuts off in these studies they fail to mention it gets replaced with some other skill that is more convenient in every day use these days.[/QUOTE] In this case, people get addicted to crappy regurgitated game IPs and learn how to walk in a straight line vs having directional awareness lol. I guess being addicted to call of duty is convenient for activisions pocket book :v: I've made a few CS:S maps that have the complexity of your average office building and nearly everyone gets lost inside the building even though there is a multi-level radar and main stairwells that lead outside lit with exit signs. I've also made some very linear CS:S maps and nobody had problems navigating it.

This is probably related to Highway Hypnosis, in that since the variables for the route have been knowingly determined beforehand (via the route guidance for the former and memorization for highway hypnosis), there is little need for the brain to perform these calculations so it exploits the scenario to have a resting period while keeping the body active enough to respond to the necessary stimuli (mostly red lights, regardless of where they are).

I'm totally fucked. I have to use gps every time I go anywhere. I even turn it on to drive to my office 6 minutes away

I'm sure this is true, but I only use my GPS as a guide and mix it with local knowledge/look at the map on the screen to change my route according to what's going on ahead. Also, I still look at and use road signs because often they're a lot more useful than the instructions a GPS is giving.

I find that strange since I use the GPS app on my phone to learn the route to where I'm going and after a few time of heading there, I remember it just fine. Unfortunately, the west-east streets in this city are so damn weirdly named that even after living here for nearly 3 years I still can't figure out the naming pattern.

I could imagine a Black Mirror episode about this, where the people have a VR display that completely replaces their real vision, showing nothing but obstacles, threats, and the path you need to take. Eventually someone would take it off for the first time and realize that the world is a much more beautiful place than they thought.

This is why I try to avoid autopiloting with GPS. I like looking at the route beforehand, but I try to remember it myself. I prefer learning the area by seeing where I am and where I'm driving, so that I can form a map of the area in my head. I seem to be the only person I know that has actual navigational abilities and a sense of direction. Everyone else I know is just a slave to their GPS.

Normally when I drive somewhere new, I look at maps ahead of time and get a good idea of the route I need to take and surrounding area. After driving there once, I never have to rely on a map again. Driving in GTA V, I was only paying enough attention to avoid obstacles. I was relying on the map to tell me if I was going the right direction. Even after driving between Michael's and Franklin's house multiple times, I'd struggle to get between the two without the map. This is why, if possible, I turn off all waypoint markers in games. For games with rich worlds to explore, waypoints only distract you from that. Deus Ex, Zelda, Skyrim, GTA, etc. The good games make it possible to play the game without them.

This is why I enjoy Zelda BotW much more in Pro mode (it removes the minimap)

using satnav over the years has only served to help me get to know my city better. It's because of satnav i can navigate my city so well, even without it. I'm not sure about this study.

[QUOTE=Teddybeer;51995063]Before you can learn shit the matches in modern games are over if you fuck up there is a healer to rescue you and when you lose you get dropped a few ranks so the feeling of losing quickly gets replaced winning a lot against cannon fodder. And you get constantly rewarded with boxes with the same chance as in any lottery to get something good. Pretty much traps designed to keep people playing. But generally when they say a part of the brain shuts off in these studies they fail to mention it gets replaced with some other skill that is more convenient in every day use these days.[/QUOTE] how long did you main genji before you quit overwatch

This makes a lot of sense. Usually I have my step-dad pick me up to drive back from university to my home town, around 250 miles, and I remember the route pretty well while he only remembers certain parts.

Don't have GPS, but before I go anywhere that's far away or unfamiliar, I just take a look at the address in Google Maps and the only things I remember are (in descending order towards my destination) Interstate #s, Exit #s, Street Name & House/Building #. Works pretty well and is easy to fold into "muscle memory".

I've noticed this too, and it's actually become quite the problem for me. For three years, I was a mobile field technician. I spent over eight hours a day on the roads driving to and fro, relying on my GPS. I came to rely on it so much that I would rapidly drift into "autopilot" mode in highway driving conditions. In "autopilot," I was still aware of other vehicles, minded the speed limit, practiced safe driving distances, etc, BUT I would pay absolutely no attention to where I was in relation to my actual route. My GPS would alert me when and where I needed to exit, so I would just sort of drift off. It wasn't a conscious decision, it just kind of happened. I'm not entirely sure how to describe the sensation. It's like driving in a dream, I guess? I'd hit the the highway, and an hour and a half later I would just sort of arrive at my destination with little clear memory of my time on the road. Problem is, that conditioning persisted even on short drives without my GPS -- even to places I already knew. I would drive right past my exit, without my GPS alerting me, and not notice for quite some time. I quite recently drove for forty minutes in the wrong direction before I looked around and realized that I was in the middle of nowhere. It's damn near every time I drive . Unless I'm making a deliberate effort to stay in the moment and take note of my route, I blitz past exits, miss turns, get stuck in exit only lanes, etc. Drives my fiancee insane. It's bizarre and frustrating. I've recently started using my GPS only for short, non-highway driving, to try and recover my sense of direction and navigational skills. I'll look at the route beforehand and get as close as I can to my destination on memory before pulling over in a gas station or something and using my GPS for the final stretch of unfamiliar streets. It's been helping!

I think we've all noticed this. An uncle of mine uses the sat nav to get home after work each day. How do you not remember that?

[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;51996043]I've noticed this too, and it's actually become quite the problem for me. For three years, I was a mobile field technician. I spent over eight hours a day on the roads driving to and fro, relying on my GPS. I came to rely on it so much that I would rapidly drift into "autopilot" mode in highway driving conditions. In "autopilot," I was still aware of other vehicles, minded the speed limit, practiced safe driving distances, etc, BUT I would pay absolutely no attention to where I was in relation to my actual route. My GPS would alert me when and where I needed to exit, so I would just sort of drift off. It wasn't a conscious decision, it just kind of happened. I'm not entirely sure how to describe the sensation. It's like driving in a dream, I guess? I'd hit the the highway, and an hour and a half later I would just sort of arrive at my destination with little clear memory of my time on the road. Problem is, that conditioning persisted even on short drives without my GPS -- even to places I already knew. I would drive right past my exit, without my GPS alerting me, and not notice for quite some time. I quite recently drove for forty minutes in the wrong direction before I looked around and realized that I was in the middle of nowhere. It's damn near every time I drive . Unless I'm making a deliberate effort to stay in the moment and take note of my route, I blitz past exits, miss turns, get stuck in exit only lanes, etc. Drives my fiancee insane. It's bizarre and frustrating. I've recently started using my GPS only for short, non-highway driving, to try and recover my sense of direction and navigational skills. I'll look at the route beforehand and get as close as I can to my destination on memory before pulling over in a gas station or something and using my GPS for the final stretch of unfamiliar streets. It's been helping![/QUOTE] it's because you're not actively checking new information against temporary memory, just monitoring your mostly constant surroundings. It's nothing your mind cares to remember, so it all falls into short term memory. Best way to combat it is probably just to change lanes and hit rest stops to get out and stretch every hour or so it's quite literally human autopilot mode, which also happens when working repetitive jobs and going through other routines, and is thought to be a large factor in the whole observation that time flies by when you're older compared to being a kid. Kids haven't settled into the autopilot mentality, so they're incredibly aware of the passing time at all given hours. That sensation once returned to me when I took ADD meds, the passage of time nearly doubled in length, it was [i]painfully boring[/i], like, nearly existential crisis levels of awareness of how much nothingness there is between events needless to say I didn't stay on the stuff long

I kinda need the GPS for highway driving, especially when we're talking about those 4-hour trips with multiple merges onto other highways. It's near impossible for me to keep focused enough to recognize my turnoff. If it's within 30 minutes of my house though, I can get by without it just fine, provided I've been to my destination before.

tbh, this was the main draw to games like dayz for me Navigating your way around with only a map and Cyrillic road signs was half the fun

[QUOTE=GiGaBiTe;51994981]Is this why new gamers from the past decade are shit at playing Doom and Quake? You know since there's a fat message on the screen telling them to move in a straight line, rather than hunt for objects inside a complex building to progress to the next level.[/QUOTE] The gameplay itself doesn't benefit the "okay here's a labyrinth and also you're going to need to do backtracking in it have fun" map design, either. While at least Doom has a map, when I'm running around at 20 MPH blasting shit with a shotgun I don't want to stop and look around for a key. The newer gamers playing the older games would probably be better if you were to grab those who play slower, horror-type games or ones like Dark Souls where it's just "we've plopped you in this massive world have fun"

i try to only use satnav when going to places i haven't been before