Go straight, then left at the flower shop…
Flower… shop? I just see a dead end?
Cue internal screaming.
That’s the story for most of us who struggle with directions. Tara Lynch, an American Abu Dhabi-based entrepreneur needs the phone to navigate her way home, despite living in the area for four years. “I still manage to take the wrong turns and then need to spend an extra 15 minutes trying to get back,” she says rather wistfully. Others like Anandini Singh, a Dubai-based homemaker panics at the thought of providing directions, despite the map in her hand. “Oh, I am always so stressed about missing a particular turn, and then I will miss it, somehow. So my friends never trust me with maps,” she admits. And then, there are others like Arundhati Menon, a teacher from Dubai, who can learn the winding roads in a foreign country, within minutes.
The world is full of people with differing navigational abilities: Some who know exactly where they are, and others who will walk in the opposite direction, despite the map saying otherwise. Why so? How do some people have a good sense of direction and others don’t?
The ‘senses’ of direction
A sense of direction isn’t a fixed trait: Let’s start by debunking that first myth.
Moreover, the sense of direction isn’t really a sense. It involves the interplay of multiple senses, explains Madiha Khan, a Dubai-based psychiatrist. While people do lean heavily on sight and figuring out where they need to go, they also use senses that aren’t part of the primary five. They use proprioception, which is a sense of where we are in relation to our surroundings. People also rely on vestibular feedback, which is the sense of spatial orientation and balance, explains Satish Chandran, a Dubai-based neuropsychiatrist.
The neurological landscape and navigation
There has been much research on how the brain works, when it comes to navigation. As Khan says, some people may naturally pay better attention to spatial cues. Others can learn to be more aware of their surroundings and put more effort into developing a better sense of direction.
Within the brain’s hippocampus, you have the ‘place’ neurons, cells in the brain that respond to specific physical locations that together light up to form cognitive maps, says Chandran. Together with specialised neurons called grid cells, they appear to create a cellular map of all the places that you have been, and the routes you have taken, he adds.
These cells ‘light up’ when we move into a specific location, so that groups of them form a map of the environment. Finally, there’s a third type of cells: The head-direction cells, which are found in the entorhinal region, located in the temporal lobe. These fire when we are heading in a particular direction. Together these specialised neurons appear to enable navigation, but precisely how, is still unclear.
Some people may naturally pay better attention to spatial cues. Others can learn to be more aware of their surroundings and put more effort into developing a better sense of direction...
There has been ongoing research on whether those equipped with navigational skills could have different biological brain structures from those who have a poor sense of direction. For example: A 2011 UK-based study concluded that London cab drivers had larger and ‘unique’ hippocampi after training extensively for two years. Crucially, their brains appear to ‘grow’ while they study for The Knowledge, the test which requires them to learn 25,000 street names and the locations of all major attractions.
So, what does one infer from this? It means that you can improve your sense of direction. You just need to work at it. Yet, the study also concluded that the ‘hippocampus’ shrinks back to normal when the cab drivers retire, showing that it is like a ‘muscle’ that needs to be trained. However, further research on the exact brain activity regarding navigational skills is still ongoing, and these results are still being questioned.
Navigation: A malleable skill
What constitutes a ‘good’ sense of navigational skills? The theories are many, there could be a variety of reasons, as Lakshmi Saranya, a Dubai-based clinical psychologist explains.
As she says, the spatial orientation abilities undergo significant developmental changes from childhood through adulthood. "This trajectory could be influenced by both genetic factors and environmental experiences. If children are exposed early on to different environments that help build their spatial awareness, this could also furnish their navigational knowledge," she says. "The brain's ability to adapt in response to experiences and environmental demands, known as neuroplasticity, also contributes to spatial cognition. Through neuroplastic changes, people can develop and refine their spatial abilities like learning to navigate a new environment or mastering complex tasks," says Saranya.
The brain's ability to adapt in response to experiences and environmental demands, known as neuroplasticity, also contributes to spatial cognition. Through neuro-plastic changes, people can develop and refine their spatial abilities like learning to navigate a new environment or mastering complex tasks...
As the psychologists explain, the childhood exposure shapes people's comfort and confidence with navigation. Children who grew up outside cities, or perhaps in more complex cities, would have a better chance at finding their way around. They would have had more chance to explore different geographical regions, sometimes without the help of signboards or just maps. It’s about how well they paid attention to each road and street, making a mental map in their brain, explains Chandran.
In fact, research backs this up too. According a 2022 study published in the US-based scientific magazine, Nature, suggests that people’s childhood surroundings influence not only impact their health and well-being, but also their ability to get around later in life. The research showed, people who grow up in predictable, gridlike cities struggled to navigate as easily as those who come from more rural areas or more intricate cities. As the study concluded, navigation is a skill that appears to be most malleable when people’s brains are developing. The environment matters: It’s one of the strong forces that shape a person’s navigational skills.
However, it’s not the only one: Personality traits, play a role too.
How personality traits influence our sense of direction
Do you feel anxious when your phone dies, and you are in the middle of nowhere? You worry that you won’t be able to find your way home, even though you know the area. Anxiety can cloud your vision and focus, making you miss cues.
Another example is someone ‘joking’ that you give the worst directions, and you believe them. If you give wrong directions, you call it a self-fulfilling prophecy.
“If you believe you're bad at directions, you might be less likely to pay attention to your surroundings or try to figure things out on your own. This can lead to a situation where you actually do get lost more often, reinforcing your negative belief,” explains Chandran. As a result, people with higher levels of confidence, might be more likely to explore different places, which allows them to build their spatial awareness further.
On the other hand, those who are more prone to anxiety, will find it harder to process landmarks and directions, he says. “This leads to poor choices while navigating. Anxiety narrows your focus, making you miss important environmental cues along the way,” he says. It can overwhelm the mental space needed for spatial tasks.
How can you hone your sense of direction?
Keep moving. The more you move, you explore, and explore different challenges. And slowly, you get better at navigation.
Try to slowly reduce dependence on GPS and maps, explain the psychologists. It can have a negative effect on your navigational skills over time. Take your environmental cues from landmarks, like streets, roads, slopes, says Chandran.
These are cues that many do miss, because they’re so immersed in checking the maps. Build your exploring muscle more, he advises: Try going to different places, and challenge yourself, he says.
Here are some tips to help you:
• Pay more attention to your surroundings when you're navigating, familiar or not. Notice landmarks, how streets are positioned relative to each other, and the general layout of the area.
• When you get somewhere new, take a moment to orient yourself. Look for prominent landmarks and try to form a mental map of the area.
• While GPS is a handy tool, relying on it all the time can hinder your ability to develop your own navigational skills. Try turning it off for short familiar trips or using it on silent mode, only checking it when you feel lost.
• Don't panic if you do get lost. Take a deep breath, try to retrace your steps, or ask for directions. Pay attention to how you got lost and what landmarks you missed. This can be a valuable learning experience.
• Challenge your spatial thinking, like playing puzzles, mazes, or building with blocks, it can improve your overall spatial awareness, which benefits navigation.
