GPS/Satnav usage switches off the brain..

[boatman61]

Nuff Sed..!!!

Using GPS or satnav instructions to navigate a city turns off portions of the brain normally used for navigation, researchers found in a recent study. Pictured, a satnav map shows the street grid in central London, which researchers used to test participants in the study. Photo by Joao Pinelo Silva/UCL


March 21 (UPI) -- Following GPS or satnav instructions turns off part of the brain normally used for navigation, according to a new study.
Researchers at University College London scanned the brains of 24 volunteers as they navigated a simulated version of the neighborhood of Soho in central London. Scientists focused their attention on the hippocampus, a brain region used for memory and navigation, and the prefrontal cortex, a region used for planning and decision-making.
When participants navigated Soho streets without assistance, brain scans revealed spikes in neural activity in both regions as people ventured onto new streets. The same regions were silent when participants were guided by GPS instructions.
The findings -- detailed in the journal Nature Communications -- showed greater navigational options boosted brain activity.
"Entering a junction such as Seven Dials in London, where seven streets meet, would enhance activity in the hippocampus, whereas a dead-end would drive down its activity," UCL psychologist Hugo Spiers explained in a news release. "If you are having a hard time navigating the mass of streets in a city, you are likely putting high demands on your hippocampus and prefrontal cortex."
Researchers believe the human brain imagines a variety of possible routes in real time as people navigate. The latest findings fit neatly with those of a previous study that showed the human brain is always formulating a backup plan as humans move through and interact with their surroundings.
"Our results fit with models in which the hippocampus simulates journeys on future possible paths while the prefrontal cortex helps us to plan which ones will get us to our destination," Spiers said. "When we have technology telling us which way to go, however, 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."
Scientists previously found the hippocampus regions of London taxi drivers significantly increase as they learn the organization of city streets and the location of landmarks of central London.

[conachair]

I find it nowhere near as bad on a boat as it is driving, but still happens - so tempting to stare at some instruments as opposed to looking around you and it takes a bit more conscious effort to keep that constant awareness of the real world. Still, won't be throwing out the tablet running opencpn in the cockpit , far too useful

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by conachair

I find it nowhere near as bad on a boat as it is driving, but still happens - so tempting to stare at some instruments as opposed to looking around you and it takes a bit more conscious effort to keep that constant awareness of the real world. Still, won't be throwing out the tablet running opencpn in the cockpit , far too useful

Depending on location/voyage I switch mine off for anything up to 12hrs at a time.. then its on for long enough to check position and COG before going off again.
However when threading through say the Torres Strait with its tidal runs of up to 5kts plus across ones track, the Channel Isles up to 7kts plus(UK) where minute by minute adjustments can be needed to avoid hazards and maintain a safe course I will make the exception.
Gotten lazy.. used to do it with paper and sights back in the 80's

[conachair]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Depending on location/voyage I switch mine off for anything up to 12hrs at a time.. then its on for long enough to check position and COG before going off again.
However when threading through say the Torres Strait with its tidal runs of up to 5kts plus across ones track, the Channel Isles up to 7kts plus(UK) where minute by minute adjustments can be needed to avoid hazards and maintain a safe course I will make the exception.
Gotten lazy.. used to do it with paper and sights back in the 80's

Often the display is off but the raspberry pi is on all the time, AIS too useful single handed, and if motoring it keeps an eye on engine temp as well.

But agree with the thrust of the link - head in a chart plotter definitely reduces your awareness of what's going on in the real world around you.

Personally I don't really like a big display at the wheel, gps SOG/COG and depth are maybe the handiest data, but nasty weather - gimme the lot!!!

[MarkJ]

I agree with the research but not for people's perceived outcomes. Its doesn't decrease safety but increases it. The less you have to think about whilst driving the safer we are.

This is why motorways, freeways, underpasses and overpasses have been utilised more and more. You need to think less on an overpass than through an intersection.

Consider: driving fast, like really fast, 100 miles per hour/160kmph your brain is totally switched on. You need to be or you are dead. On city streets it is death so speed limits reduce that death toll as driving at 35mph/60kmph uses less brain and is safer.

I extrapolate that to sailing. If 100% of your brain is used keeping in the channel you might not see the ship bearing down on you, however with GPS and AIS you navigate and see ships better. And that equals enhanced safety.


Mark

[Squanderbucks]

Results of the study are not surprising and would be what you would expect before even running the study. The more you have to "work" at knowing your situational information - the more "things" you will see and be aware of - and remember later.
But as others have said - that does not equate to safer.
No matter how good you are and how much you check all around you, look at traditional reference material such as paper maps - you can not be sure of where you are on the open ocean. GPS and electronic aids will most always put you closer to your actual position more accurately.

While we are all aware that you should never totally depend on any one device or method because they can fail .. we humans can fail as well - and probably more often. On a dark, overcast, or rainy night I would certainly rather have my GPS/Chartplotter than going back to the old days of paper charts and dead reckoning (they gave it that name for a reason).

But we should never do like a fellow I knew who jumped in his boat with his family and after getting 35 miles offshore headed to the Bahamas - called and asked how to operate his new Chartplotter and what was the course to the Islands. God looks out for Drunks and Fools I guess.

[wrwakefield]

I remember when a guy drove his car off a ferry in Alaska, drove a few hundred meters, and then submerged it by turning down the adjacent trailer boat launching ramp- following his GPS navigation system...

As you know launching ramps are gently sloped, coarse and bumpy, but that didn't deter his unfaltering trust in his GPS navigation system...

I'm familiar with the area and it is difficult to imagine this happening...

Here is the newspaper article...

Some folks have a knack for making the rest of us feel lucky... [or gifted?]

Cheers! Bill

[Mike OReilly]

Actual paper: Hippocampal and prefrontal processing of network topology to simulate the future : Nature Communications

And a CBC story: https://youtu.be/E90zqfgD17Q

To be clear, the research just found that one section of the brain (the right posterior hippocampal) gets utilized when subjects navigated manually, and did not see as much activity when subjects followed instructions (like with the use of GPS).

The research made no claim regarding which navigation system was better. It would be an interesting next step to see which system is safer, although getting ethics board approval for a human experiment like this might be difficult .

I think one reasonable conclusion to draw is that the biological navigation system (right posterior hippocampal) will be less developed over time on those who depend on external devices as compared to those who navigate manually. This suggests a dependancy will develop on GPS devices, which is why you often hear the warning about over-reliance on these things.

What happens when they go pffttt? Boy, you’ll be wishing you’d spent more time developing your right posterior hippocampal then .

[S/V Alchemy]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Depending on location/voyage I switch mine off for anything up to 12hrs at a time.. then its on for long enough to check position and COG before going off again.
However when threading through say the Torres Strait with its tidal runs of up to 5kts plus across ones track, the Channel Isles up to 7kts plus(UK) where minute by minute adjustments can be needed to avoid hazards and maintain a safe course I will make the exception.
Gotten lazy.. used to do it with paper and sights back in the 80's

Exactly. Bearing with hand compass to calculate speed/distance off are good practice, as is the sextant in the absence of land. By the same token, I would never set an autopilot to a waypoint, but to a course. You check distance from the waypoint to reveal currents/drift and/or lee-making, which tells you if your sails are optimally set.

You can learn a lot thereby.

[Perna]

On the other hand....

Driving through a strange city is no longer a hassle, you can even look around and see some of the place.

Driving along bendy roads in bad weather you can see what the road is going to do and drive accordingly.

For a car I'm converted.

On a boat I don't have enough experience. From what I've seen it takes some of the pleasure out of arriving at the correct place just using your savvy. Would still want one though

[toddster8]

The same thing happened when we started using whiz-bang electronic presentations in college lectures. Students just watched the pretty pictures and test scores went into the toilet. Now I'm back to the old chalk-board. Well... I'm not quite that primitive, I usually use an overhead projector. When students have to write stuff down, it actually passes through the brain, instead of in front of it. Some of it sticks.

[IslandHopper]

I want to know when are we going to get talking chart plotters like they have in cars? you won't even have to look at the screen then....

"In 200m turn left at the waypoint"

That way we can concentrate on important things like surfing the net or texting, awesome!

[jkindredpdx]

Hahaha... reminds me of the time I was following google maps to the Courtyard Marriott in Billerica MA. I turned down a small dirt road and stopped. The app told me to drive forward 100 yards into the center of a large pond and I would be at my destination. I phoned the hotel... evidently they had many customers call from the same location.

As for boating, although I have my Chart screen with AIS, I enjoy using paper charts, compass, and binoculars etc. for piloting. I experince a lot more that way.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by jkindredpdx

Hahaha... reminds me of the time I was following google maps to the Courtyard Marriott in Billerica MA. I turned down a small dirt road and stopped. The app told me to drive forward 100 yards into the center of a large pond and I would be at my destination. I phoned the hotel... evidently they had many customers call from the same location.

My last land home was a small cabin in a semi-wild area, a little ways out of the city (Thunder Bay). People would often get lost coming to our place. I finally figured out Google Maps had us in the wrong spot.

Luckily the place it sent people to was onto a causeway, and not over some ledge or into the Lake.

[Pelagic]

While Boaties personal approach of turning off the instruments is pretty draconian I can understand that forcing a delivery crew to keep a good lookout is tough!

I view it as 2 responsibilities.

1 Captain/Assigned Navigator
2 Crew/Duty Lookout

In close quarter busy areas, you work as a 2 person team until things quiet down...the lookout kept away from any distracting instruments.

Offshore.... a simple GPS instrument showing cross track error to next waypoint, keeps them alert and monitoring COG without distraction from playing with multi function displays.