How do people end up following their satnavs into danger?

Prof Hugo Spiers, from the Faculty of Brain Sciences at University College London, conducted research, external into what our brains do when we drive using GPS to navigate.

The 2017 study involved 24 volunteers navigating a simulation of Soho in central London while undergoing brain scans.

“There’s all sorts of things your brain is busy tracking when you’re driving from memory, your brain’s very active,” Spiers said.

“All that just disappears when the GPS is in use.

“When you enter into a really busy roundabout, the particular bit of the brain for navigation is very active when you’re trying to solve the problem.

“Whereas if you’re going to a roundabout with GPS, your brain is not actively engaged in that at all.”

The study had found the areas of the brain that switch off during GPS use were the areas associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

“The hippocampus and the entorhinal cortex are two key brain areas that really early on get disrupted.

“It’s good to keep your brain active navigating and not just offload everything to GPS.”