People raised in rural areas have better sense of direction than city dwellers – study

A study has found that people who grew up in the country have a better sense of direction and navigation than those who were raised in cities.

Almost 400,000 people from 38 countries played a mobile video game designed for neuroscience research to find out how childhood environment influences navigation ability.

According to a study published in the Nature journal, players of the Sea Hero Quest game had to navigate a boat to get to a map.

Growing up outside cities appears to be good for the development of navigation abilities, and this seems to be influenced by the lack of complexity of many street networks in cities, according to the lead researcher, Hugo Spiers.

According to research, certain cognitive capacities in mice's brains, including spatial navigation, were modified when they were raised in cages with different paths.

He told Agence France-Presse that humans were difficult to study because they can't be locked up in cages.

Sea Hero Quest was created in 2016 to study Alzheimer's disease and has since been played by nearly 4 million people.

Coutrot said that people who grew up in rural areas scored better because the countryside is very unorganised and you have to memorise your route.

People raised in more complex cities such as Paris and Prague did better than those raised in orderly grids such as Chicago, he said.

It is possible for adults to improve their sense of direction later in life.

A new version of the game, called City Hero Quest, was developed to test how city dwellers fare in their natural environment.

The difference in grid street plans between people raised in cities and those who grew up in the country was not as stark as the other way around.