Does switching on a Satnav switch off part of the brain?

Scientists say using a Satnav can switch off part of the brain, which could have implications for our health.

Self-study activity:
Watch the video and say whether the statements below are true or false.



1 Following the directions of a satnav have deep effects on our brains.
2 Driving around Soho is not difficult.
3 The hippocampus stops working when drivers use a satnav.
4 Seven roads start at Seven Dials in Covent Garden.
5 Taxi drivers in general have the most developed hippocampus.
6 There are around 26,000 places of interest in London.
7 Medical research has proved that underuse of the hippocampus leads to mental diseases.

Some drivers like to follow their nose. Others are more than happy to be told where to go.
After 100 yards, bear left...
More and more people will not leave home without their trusty sat-nav.
It is vital to find places easily.
It is, sort of, I suppose takes the stress out of going somewhere that you don't know.
But what effect does slavishly following directions have on our brains? Neuro scientists at University College London have published research claiming it’s quite profound. Volunteers like Will here were taken around Soho, one of the most complicated road networks in the world. They were then put in an MRI scanner and, using virtual reality, were asked give directions.
So what we did here is look into the human brain, at Will’s brain and many others, to see is there a part of the brain that knows automatically the number of options or the changes in the number of options. But when the volunteers were told the route using a Satnav, scientists noticed the navigational area of the brain, called the hippocampus, stopped working.
You’re no longer engaging those bits of your brain that you would do normally if you were using your memory to sort of pick apart the street network as you navigate. So effectively, the Satnav is turning off the engagement of these brain areas.
Now this is Seven Dials in Covent Garden, and it’s called that for a reason. There are seven different roads converging so I have lots of options here and my brain is currently trying to work out which road to take. But not just that, which road to take after that, and after that, and after that. It’s processing lots of information to try and get me to my destination as quickly and safely as possible. But, this research suggests, if I were to activate my Satnav here, this will do all the decision-making for me. So that part of my brain just switches off.
This research builds on a previous study which found London's black cab drivers have the most developed hippocampus. They have to memorise thousands of roads, routes and landmarks.
It is not in your long term memory, it’s in your short term memory.
Then the brain very quickly becomes a sponge once again and it clicks on to this road leads to this road that leads to that road, I can’t do that road because it’s one way. And in over a series… an amount of time, it grows and grows and grows. So that said, you know, it’s extremely difficult, not just because you’ve got to know 26,000 roads, and thousands and thousands of places of interest, but it’s… we are remembering how to remember them again.
The research team wants to build on the study to explore the wider medical implications, whether underuse of the hippocampus, for example, contributes to the onset of Alzheimer and dementia. But for the first time, there is firm evidence that switching this on switches off an important part of our brain.
Marc Ashdown, BBC London news.

KEY:
1T 
2F 
3T 
4F (converge) 
5F (London's black cab drivers) 
6F (26,000 roads) 
7F (it’s just a hypothesis)

Talking point: Memory lane

This week's talking point is memory. Before getting together with the members of your conversation group, go over the questions below so that ideas flow more easily when you meet up with your friends and you can work out vocabulary problems beforehand.

Do you have a good memory or have you got a memory like a sieve?
What methods do you use to help you remember things? Choose from the list below.

lists - repeating information to yourself - 

mobile phone reminders - making up a story - 

associating words with pictures - 

putting up reminder notices

When you forget something, what are useful ways to jog your memory?
Have you ever had problems with forgetfulness?
Have you ever had an embarrasing experience because your mind went blank?
What can a person do to improve their memory?
How has your memory changed compared to 10 or 15 years ago?
What is old people's memory like?
What kind of music, smells or tastes brings back memories for you?
What is your earliest memory?
Have you ever been a witness to a crime or a serious incident? If so, was it difficult to remember all the details?
Which of these things help you best to recall past events? How and why?

music - smells - photographs - objects - 

tastes - talking to family and friends

To illustrate the topic you can watch this video about memory and old age.

Will I lose my memory when I get old?
Your brain is shrinking. Well if you're over 30 it is. After that, on average, you lose a bit less than 0.5 percent of your brain volume every year. Reach ninety and you may have lost over a third of your hippocampus, the seahorse-shaped bit of the brain vital for making memories, and you’ll have said goodbye to 14 percent of your cerebral cortex, the grey matter  responsible for useful things like thinking, emotions and speech. Worse still, scientists used to believe the adult brain’s fixed and unable to change like concrete. So losing some was a serious matter.
In 2000 researchers began to investigate a group of London taxi and bus drivers. The bus drivers trained for six weeks and then rode the same routes every day, whereas the taxi drivers had trained for up to four years memorizing some 25,000 streets. The researchers took MRI scans of both bus and taxi drivers but it was the cabbies' brain that showed something incredible: Their brains contained far more gray matter in the back part of the hippocampus than the bus drivers.
Here is what scientists think was going on. Inside our brains are trillions of synaptic connections, chemical and electrical impulses, that transfer messages between the body and the brain like millions of cabbies taking millions of patrons to different destinations. In memorizing and using their mental matter, the cabbies’ brains adapted and changed creating more synaptic connections. So it turns out the brain isn't like concrete but more like putty or plastic, able to adapt to our demands. Scientists call this adaptability neuroplasticity. This new discovery is great news because while you might not be able to stop your brain shrinkage it seems you can compensate by building new connections if you stay mentally active, challenging your brain like a London cabbie.
To discover more about your plastic brain go to you www.hellobrain.eu.

Will I lose my memory when I get old?

Our brain is like plasticine. It bends and adapts when faced with mental challenges, and we can keep it in fit shape by staying mentally active.

Self-study activity:
Watch this Brit Lab video on memory and age and complete the gaps in the transcript with the missing words. The activity is suitable for intermediate 2 and Advanced 1 students.



Will I lose my memory when I get old?
Your brain is (1) ... . Well if you're over 30 it is. After that, on average, you lose a bit less than 0.5 percent of your brain volume every year. Reach ninety and you may have lost over (2) ... ... of your hippocampus, the seahorse-shaped bit of the brain vital for making memories, and you’ll have said goodbye to 14 percent of your cerebral cortex, the (3) ...  ...  responsible for useful things like thinking, emotions and speech. Worse still, scientists used to believe the adult brain’s fixed and unable to change like (4) ... . So losing some was a serious matter.
In 2000 researchers began to investigate a group of London taxi and bus drivers. The bus drivers trained for six weeks and then rode the same (5) ... every day, whereas the taxi drivers had trained for up to four years memorizing some 25,000 streets. The researchers took MRI scans of both bus and taxi drivers but it was the (6) ...  brain that showed something incredible: Their brains contained far more gray matter in the back part of the hippocampus than the bus drivers.
Here is what scientists think was going on. Inside our brains are trillions of synaptic connections, chemical and electrical (7) ... , that transfer messages between the body and the brain like millions of cabbies taking millions of (8) ... to different destinations. In memorizing and using their mental matter, the cabbies’ brains adapted and changed creating more synaptic connections. So it turns out the brain isn't like concrete but more like putty or plastic, able to adapt to (9) ...  ... . Scientists call this adaptability neuroplasticity. This new discovery is great news because while you might not be able to stop your brain shrinkage it seems you can compensate by building new connections if you stay mentally active, (10) ... your brain like a London cabbie.
To discover more about your plastic brain go to you www.hellobrain.eu.

Key:
1 shrinking 2 a third 3 grey matter 4 concrete 5 routes 6 cabbies’ 7 impulses 8 patrons 9 our demands 10 challenging

Extensive listening: Endless memory

Lesley Stahl reports on the recently discovered phenomenon of "superior autobiographical memory," the ability to recall nearly every day of one's life.

This is a CBS 60 Minutes segment, and this is the way reporter Lesley Stahl introduced the segment:

'It is often said that we are our memories - that web of experiences, relationships, thoughts, and feelings that make us who we are. We don't remember it all of course. That would be impossible. Or would it?

There has been a discovery in the field of memory recently, so new you won't find it in any textbook. It's so hard to fathom, there are some who remain unconvinced.

For the moment, the scientists studying it are simply calling it "superior autobiographical memory." And unless you happen to know one of the handful of people discovered so far who have it, get ready to be amazed.'

You can read a full transcript for the segment here.

How does your memory work?

The BBC programme Horizon takes us on a journey into the human memory. The documentary reveals how   different human stories are transforming the way we understand this ability.

The findings reveal the shocking truth that everyone is little more than their own memory.

Watch the first part of How does memory work? in this 10-minute video clip.

You can read the transcript here.

How to improve your memory

If asked, 90 percent of people will admit to having a poor memory. But is there anything we can do to improve our memory?

If possible, get together with an English-speaking friend or relative and try to come up with as many ideas as possible on how to improve one's memory.

Now read this article from The Browser that I found through Learn the Net. In Joshua Foer on Memory, the US memory champion picks five books about the art of remembering things which can throw some insight on what we can do to make things more memorable.

The Art of Memory, by Frances A Yates
The Book of Memory, by Mary Carruthers
Memory in Oral Traditions, by David C Rubin
Metaphors of Memory, by Douwe Draaisma
The Mind of a Mnemonist, by Aleksandr R Luria