Podcast appearances and mentions of hugo spiers

Insights in route planning from London taxi drivers Science Sessions are brief conversations with cutting-edge researchers, National Academy members, and policymakers as they discuss topics relevant to today's scientific community. Learn the behind-the-scenes story of work published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), plus a broad range of scientific news about discoveries that affect the world around us. In this episode, Hugo Spiers, Pablo Fernández Velasco, and Eva-Marie Griesbauer share what they learned about human route planning from talking with London taxi drivers. In this episode, we cover: •[00:00] Introduction •[00:59] Cognitive neuroscientist Hugo Spiers reviews previous studies on human route planning. •[01:29] Cognitive scientist and philosopher Pablo Fernández Velasco talks about why they chose to study London taxi drivers. •[01:49] Spiers describes the test that qualifies London taxi drivers. •[02:39] Spiers explains the experimental procedure. •[04:01] A recording of a taxi driver describing a route. •[04:57] Fernández talks about the data analysis. •[05:22] Psychologist Eva-Maria Griesbauer talks about the experience of interviewing taxi drivers. •[05:56] Fernández, Spiers, and Griesbauer recount the results of the study. •[08:43] Fernández and Spiers talk about the implications for the study of human route planning. •[10:22] Fernández describes the caveats and limitations of the study. •[11:15] Conclusion. About Our Guests: Hugo Spiers Professor University College London Pablo Fernández Velasco Postdoctoral researcher University of York Eva-Maria Griesbauer Postdoctoral researcher University College London View related content here: https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2407814122 Follow us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts for more captivating discussions on scientific breakthroughs! Visit Science Sessions on PNAS.org: https://www.pnas.org/about/science-sessions-podcast  Follow PNAS: Twitter/X Facebook LinkedIn YouTube Sign up for the PNAS Highlights newsletter

Analyzing the brains of London's taxi drivers could be key to improving AI navigation systems and Alzheimer's research, scientists say. University College London (UCL) researchers have found that London taxi drivers develop a larger posterior hippocampus (the part of the brain responsible for memory and navigation) due to years of training. Each driver must pass a rigorous exam known as ‘The Knowledge', memorizing over 26,000 streets to navigate the city efficiently. Unlike app-based navigation systems, taxi drivers don't rely on satnavs. Instead, they use years of training and experience to plan the best possible routes in real-time. Now, researchers believe their unique approach to route planning could inform the development of artificial intelligence, and further research into Alzheimer's disease. For Marc Manning, driving a taxi in London is more than just a job; it's a skill that has taken him years to master. “I love my job. 25 years and I still love it. Very proud of it. Very proud of the fact that, you know, I'm one of a very small number that can actually do The Knowledge.” He says London's taxi drivers rely on a deep understanding of the city's streets, something which no satnav can fully replicate. Now, scientists are studying how this expertise in route planning could help improve AI. Hugo Spiers, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at UCL says, “In this study, we asked London taxi drivers to plan routes through the city, saying each street out loud as they worked it out. Sometimes they were very quick, sometimes much slower. We used models to understand why—and found that the layout of London's streets plays a major role. It shows just how efficient these taxi drivers are, and it gives us new insights into human navigation. That knowledge could help us develop better AI systems in the future.” Unlike satnavs, which calculate multiple routes before choosing one, taxi drivers prioritize the most complex parts of the journey first, and then work around them. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

London's black cab drivers are famous for having a very active part of the brain that's critical for mapping thousands of streets.By the time taxi students hop off their training moped and pass The Knowledge licence exam, a driver will have memorised over 26,000 of the capital's roads thanks to how their posterior hippocampus region develops as a result.The international study, led by UCL neuroscientists, included quizzing London cabbies to examine how long it takes humans to compute the capital's A to Z and, crucially, to contextualise routes without the help of artificial intelligence-powered maps.It's hoped better insights, described as showing “insights into the genius of the human mind”, could help develop better navigation tools.The Standard's Rachelle Abbott is joined by Hugo Spiers, professor of cognitive neuroscience at UCL's department of psychology & language sciences, to discuss the study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.In part two, latest developments in multiple lawsuits between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni centring on behaviour on-set during filming of It Ends with Us - we speak with The London Standard culture and lifestyle writer India Block. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hi friends, we're still on a brief summer break. We'll have a new episode for you later in August. In the meanwhile, enjoy this pick from our archives! ---- [originally aired September 21, 2022] If your podcast listening habits are anything like mine, you might be out for a walk right now. Maybe you're wandering the neighborhood, just blocks from home, or maybe you're further afield. In either case, I'm guessing you're finding your way without too much trouble—you're letting some intuitive sense steer you, track how far you've gone, tell you where to go next. This inner navigator of yours is doing all in the background, as your mind wanders elsewhere, and magically it gets it all right. Most of the time, anyway. But how is it doing it? What allows us to pull this off? My guest today is Dr. Hugo Spiers, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London. His lab studies how our brains "remember the past, navigate the present, and imagine the future.” In recent years Hugo and his group have used a wide variety of methods—and some astonishingly large datasets—to shed light on central questions about human spatial abilities.  Here, Hugo and I do a quick tour of the neuroscience of navigation—including the main brain structures involved and how they were discovered. We talk about research on a very peculiar population, the London taxi driver. We discuss the game Sea Hero Quest and what it's teaching us about navigation abilities around the world. We also touch on what GPS might be doing to us; whether the hippocampus actually resembles a seahorse; the ingenious layout of our brain's inner grids; navigation ability as an early sign of Alzheimer's; how “place cells” actually map more than just place; and how the monarch butterfly finds its way. Super excited to share this one folks—this is an episode that's been on our wish list for some time. For mobile organisms like us, navigation is life or death—it's as basic as eating or breathing. So when we dig into the foundations of these spatial abilities, we're really digging into some of the most basic foundations of mind.  So let's get to it. On to my conversation with Dr. Hugo Spiers. Enjoy!   A transcript of this episode is available here.   Notes and links 4:00 – A brief documentary about a person with developmental topographical disorder. 8:00 – There have been a slew of popular articles about the question of whether GPS is undermining our navigation abilities—see here and here. 12:00 – A classic academic article about path integration in mammals. 14:00 – The classic academic article by Edward Tolman on the idea of “cognitive maps.” 16:00 – A side-by-side comparison of a human hippocampus and seahorse. The resemblance is indeed striking. 18:00 – A classic academic article reporting “place cells” in rats. 21:00 ­– A research article on seasonal changes in hippocampus size across different species. 22:00 – A recent academic article on interactions between the hippocampus and the striatum in navigation. 23:30 – An article reviewing the first decade of research on “grid cells.” A video showing the activity of grid cells in a rat. 26:00 – The long struggle to calculate longitude is subject of a much-beloved book by Dava Sobel. 27:00 – The press release announcing the Nobel prize for the discovery of grid cells and place cells. 31:00 – A popular article about ‘The Knowledge'—a famed test for London taxi drivers. 33:30 – The celebrated original study by Eleanor Maquire and colleagues on structural changes in the brains of London taxi drivers. The (also-celebrated) follow-up study that Dr. Spiers was part of, comparing London taxi and bus drivers. 37:00 – More about the Taxi Brains project can be found here. 41:00 – A recent paper by Dr. Spiers' team, led by Eva-Maria Griesbauer, reviews the cognitive neuroscience studies on London taxi drivers and dives deep into the learning techniques the drivers use. 44:30 – A paper by Dr. Spiers and team providing an overview of Sea Hero Quest and the studies it has been used for to date. A video demo of the game, and a popular article describing its motivation. Dr. Spiers developed the idea for the game in collaboration with Michael Hornberger. 50:00 – A recent research article looking at the value of Sea Hero Quest in detecting those at risk for Alzheimers. 53:00 – One of the first studies by Dr. Spiers and colleagues using Sea Hero Quest to test a vast sample and examine effects of variables like age, gender, and nationality. 54:30 – A more recent paper by Dr. Spiers and colleagues examining the effect of growing up in cities that are more or less “griddy.” 57:00 – A study by Dr. Spiers and colleagues showing a relationship between real-world navigation ability and navigation performance in Sea Hero Quest. 1:04:00 – The website of the International Orienteering Foundation. A video showing the sport. 1:06:00 – A review paper by Dr. Spiers and colleagues about the potential roles of cognitive maps in navigation and beyond. 1:07:00 – A review of “concept cells”, aka “Halle Berre cells.” 1:08:00 – A recent opinion piece by Dr. Spiers on the question of how many maps—and of what kind—the hippocampus implements. 1:10:30 – A recent research article on “time cells” in the hippocampus. 1:14:30 – A recent review article about monarch butterfly navigation.   Dr. Spiers recommends: Human Spatial Navigation, by Ekstrom, Spiers, Bohbot, and Rosenbaum ‘The Cognitive Map in Humans: Spatial Navigation and Beyond,' by Epstein, Patai, Julian, and Spiers You can read more about Dr. Spiers work on his website and follow him on Twitter.     Many Minds is a project of the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute (DISI) (https://disi.org), which is made possible by a generous grant from the Templeton World Charity Foundation to UCLA. It is hosted and produced by Kensy Cooperrider, with help from Assistant Producer Urte Laukaityte and with creative support from DISI Directors Erica Cartmill and Jacob Foster. Our artwork is by Ben Oldroyd (https://www.mayhilldesigns.co.uk/). Our transcripts are created by Sarah Dopierala (https://sarahdopierala.wordpress.com/). You can subscribe to Many Minds on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Google Play, or wherever you like to listen to podcasts. **You can now subscribe to the Many Minds newsletter here!** We welcome your comments, questions, and suggestions. Feel free to email us at: manymindspodcast@gmail.com. For updates about the show, visit our website (https://disi.org/manyminds/), or follow us on Twitter: @ManyMindsPod.

Dr Hugo Spiers is a professor of cognitive neuroscience at University College London and the director of the Spiers Lab. His work focuses on spatial cognition: how we remember, navigate and imagine space.WATCH NOW: https://youtu.be/9eTzGgW5FCkGUEST:

Support the show to get full episodes and join the Discord community. Check out my free video series about what's missing in AI and Neuroscience Hugo Spiers runs the Spiers Lab at University College London. In general Hugo is interested in understanding spatial cognition, like navigation, in relation to other processes like planning and goal-related behavior, and how brain areas like the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex coordinate these cognitive functions. So, in this episode, we discuss a range of his research and thoughts around those topics. You may have heard about the studies he's been involved with for years, regarding London taxi drivers and how their hippocampus changes as a result of their grueling efforts to memorize how to best navigate London. We talk about that, we discuss the concept of a schema, which is roughly an abstracted form of knowledge that helps you know how to behave in different environments. Probably the most common example is that we all have a schema for eating at a restaurant, independent of which restaurant we visit, we know about servers, and menus, and so on. Hugo is interested in spatial schemas, for things like navigating a new city you haven't visited. Hugo describes his work using reinforcement learning methods to compare how humans and animals solve navigation tasks. And finally we talk about the video game Hugo has been using to collect vast amount of data related to navigation, to answer questions like how our navigation ability changes over our lifetimes, the different factors that seem to matter more for our navigation skills, and so on. Spiers Lab. Twitter: @hugospiers. Related papers Predictive maps in rats and humans for spatial navigation. From cognitive maps to spatial schemas. London taxi drivers: A review of neurocognitive studies and an exploration of how they build their cognitive map of London. Explaining World-Wide Variation in Navigation Ability from Millions of People: Citizen Science Project Sea Hero Quest.

If your podcast listening habits are anything like mine, you might be out for a walk right now. Maybe you're wandering the neighborhood, just blocks from home, or maybe you're further afield. In either case, I'm guessing you're finding your way without too much trouble—you're letting some intuitive sense steer you, track how far you've gone, tell you where to go next. This inner navigator of yours is doing all in the background, as your mind wanders elsewhere, and magically it gets it all right. Most of the time, anyway But how is it doing it? What allows us to pull this off? My guest today is Dr. Hugo Spiers, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London. His lab studies how our brains "remember the past, navigate the present, and imagine the future.” In recent years Hugo and his group have used a wide variety of methods—and some astonishingly large datasets—to shed light on central questions about human spatial abilities.  Here, Hugo and I do a quick tour of the neuroscience of navigation—including the main brain structures involved and how they were discovered. We talk about research on a very peculiar population, the London taxi driver. We discuss the game Sea Hero quest and what it's teaching us about navigation abilities around the world. We also touch on what GPS might be doing to us; whether the hippocampus actually resembles a sea horse; the ingenious layout of our brain's inner grids; navigation ability as an early sign of Alzheimer's; how “place cells” actually map more than just place; and how the monarch butterfly finds its way. Super excited to this share one folks—this is an episode that's been on our wish list for some time. For mobile organisms like us, navigation is life or death—it's as basic as eating or breathing. So when we dig into the foundations of these spatial abilities we're really digging into some of the most basic foundations of mind.  So let's get to it. On to my conversation with Dr. Hugo Spiers. Enjoy!   A transcript of this episode will be available soon.   Notes and links 4:00 – A brief documentary about a person with developmental topographical disorder. 8:00 – There have been a slew of popular articles about the question of whether GPS is undermining our navigation abilities—see here and here. 12:00 – A classic academic article about path integration in mammals. 14:00 – The classic academic article by Edward Tolman on the idea of “cognitive maps.” 16:00 – A side-by-side comparison of a human hippocampus and seahorse. The resemblance is indeed striking. 18:00 – A classic academic article reporting “place cells” in rats. 21:00 ­– A research article on seasonal changes in hippocampus size across different species. 22:00 – A recent academic article on interactions between the hippocampus and the striatum in navigation. 23:30 – An article reviewing the first decade of research on “grid cells.” A video showing the activity of grid cells in a rat. 26:00 – The long struggle to calculate longitude is subject of a much-beloved book by Dava Sobel. 27:00 – The press release announcing the Nobel prize for the discovery of grid cells and place cells. 31:00 – A popular article about ‘The Knowledge'—a famed test for London taxi drivers. 33:30 – The celebrated original study by Eleanor Maquire and colleagues on structural changes in the brains of London taxi drivers. The (also-celebrated) follow-up study that Dr. Spiers was part of, comparing London taxi and bus drivers. 37:00 – More about the Taxi Brains project can be found here. 41:00 – A recent paper by Dr. Spiers' team, led by Eva-Maria Griesbauer, reviews the cognitive neuroscience studies on London taxi drivers and dives deep into the learning techniques the drivers use. 44:30 – A paper by Dr. Spiers and team providing an overview of Sea Hero Quest and the studies it has been used for to date. A video demo of the game, and a popular article describing its motivation. Dr. Spiers developed the idea for the game in collaboration with Michael Hornberger. 50:00 – A recent research article looking at the value of Sea Hero Quest in detecting those at risk for Alzheimers. 53:00 – One of the first studies by Dr. Spiers and colleagues using Sea Hero Quest to test a vast sample and examine effects of variables like age, gender, and nationality. 54:30 – A more recent paper by Dr. Spiers and colleagues examining the effect of growing up in cities that are more or less “griddy.” 57:00 – A study by Dr. Spiers and colleagues showing a relationship between real-world navigation ability and navigation performance in Sea Hero Quest. 1:04:00 – The website of the International Orienteering Foundation. A video showing the sport. 1:06:00 – A review paper by Dr. Spiers and colleagues about the potential roles of cognitive maps in navigation and beyond. 1:07:00 – A review of “concept cells”, aka “Halle Berre cells.” 1:08:00 – A recent opinion piece by Dr. Spiers on the question of how many maps—and of what kind—the hippocampus implements. 1:10:30 – A recent research article on “time cells” in the hippocampus. 1:14:30 – A recent review article about monarch butterfly navigation.   Dr. Spiers recommends: Human Spatial Navigation, by Ekstrom, Spiers, Bohbot, and Rosenbaum ‘The Cognitive Map in Humans: Spatial Navigation and Beyond,' by Epstein, Patai, Julian, and Spiers You can read more about Dr. Spiers work on his website and follow him on Twitter.     Many Minds is a project of the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute (DISI) (https://disi.org), which is made possible by a generous grant from the Templeton World Charity Foundation to UCLA. It is hosted and produced by Kensy Cooperrider, with help from Assistant Producer Urte Laukaityte and with creative support from DISI Directors Erica Cartmill and Jacob Foster. Our artwork is by Ben Oldroyd (https://www.mayhilldesigns.co.uk/). Our transcripts are created by Sarah Dopierala (https://sarahdopierala.wordpress.com/). You can subscribe to Many Minds on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Google Play, or wherever you like to listen to podcasts. **You can now subscribe to the Many Minds newsletter here!** We welcome your comments, questions, and suggestions. Feel free to email us at: manymindspodcast@gmail.com. For updates about the show, visit our website (https://disi.org/manyminds/), or follow us on Twitter: @ManyMindsPod.

What is a memory made of? Which parts of the brain help us remember? And what can taxi drivers' brains tell us about how memories are made?  In this episode of How We're Wired, join evolutionary anthropologist Dr Anna Machin as she dives into the science of memory, and how we remember. We'll unpick the structures of the brain that are involved in making memories, and attend an MRI scan of a London cabbie to understand what makes London drivers' brains so fascinating to neuroscientists.   With special thanks to Mark, Stephanie, Amy Milton, and Hugo Spiers.   How We're Wired is a Fresh Air Production for The Bertarelli Foundation. Subscribe or follow now so you never miss an episode.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hugo Spiers talks about taxis, how where you grew up affects your navigation skills, and the time that Benedict Cumberbatch ruined one of his experiments. For more information and to access the transcript: www.ucl.ac.uk/research/domains/neuroscience/brain-stories-podcast Date of episode recording: 2022-07-19 Duration: 00:56:28 Language of episode: English Presenter:Selina Wray & Caswell Barry Guests: Hugo Spiers Producer: Patrick Robinson

Hugo Spiers talks about taxis, how where you grew up affects your navigation skills, and the time that Benedict Cumberbatch ruined one of his experiments.For more information and to access the transcript: www.ucl.ac.uk/research/domains/n…in-stories-podcastDate of episode recording: 2022-07-19Duration: 00:56:28Language of episode: EnglishPresenter:Selina Wray & Caswell BarryGuests: Hugo SpiersProducer: Patrick Robinson

Mary Elizabeth Sutherland is senior editor at Nature, where she edits submissions in the behavioural sciences and cognitive neuroscience. In this conversation, we talk about how she became an editor, what editors do all day, how to improve your submissions, the future of publishing at Nature, the harp, and much more.BJKS Podcast is a podcast about neuroscience, psychology, and anything vaguely related, hosted by Benjamin James Kuper-Smith. In 2022, episodes will appear irregularly, roughly twice per month. You can find the podcast on all podcasting platforms (e.g., Spotify, Apple/Google Podcasts, etc.). Timestamps0:00:00: Introduction0:05:51: How Mary Elizabeth started playing the harp0:11:19: Harp music recommendations0:13:09: How Mary Elizabeth became senior editor at Nature0:18:11: What do editors do all day?0:31:04: What's the difference between Nature, Nature Communications, and Scientific Reports?0:38:53: How representative do samples need to be for Nature?0:44:12: What exactly is a cover letter for?0:50:43: Common errors in submissions0:56:11: Why do the official PDFs of papers have unidentifiable names?0:59:11: Do we still need journals?1:04:07: Will Nature offer Registered Reports?Podcast linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-podTwitter: https://geni.us/bjks-pod-twtMary Elizabeth's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/sutherland-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/Sutherland-scholarTwitter: https://geni.us/Sutherland-twtBen's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/bjks-scholarTwitter:  https://geni.us/bjks-twtReferences and linksHarp musicCarlos Salzedo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Salzedoplaying his composition Scintillation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQ8bA1XXQpMLucile Lawrence (her teacher):  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucile_Lawrence performing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bm_-Omk_bl0An example of Kora music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cLAwAOi-hAEpisode with Hugo Spiers: https://geni.us/bjks-spiersEpisode with Michael Hornberger: https://geni.us/bjks-hornbergerTalk Mary Elizabeth gave that I found on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5akzsfqwJiwPapers mentionedAiken, E., Bellue, S., Karlan, D. et al. Machine learning and phone data can improve targeting of humanitarian aid. Nature (2022).Camerer, C. F., Dreber, A., Holzmeister, F., Ho, T. H., Huber, J., Johannesson, M., ... & Wu, H. (2018). Evaluating the replicability of social science experiments in Nature and Science between 2010 and 2015. Nature Human Behaviour.Coutrot, A., Manley, E., Goodroe, S. et al. Entropy of city street networks linked to future spatial navigation ability. Nature (2022). Douaud, G., Lee, S., Alfaro-Almagro, F. et al. SARS-CoV-2 is associated with changes in brain structure in UK Biobank. Nature (2022).

Hugo Spiers is professor of cognitive neuroscience at University College London.  His research explores how our brain constructs representations of the world and uses them to recall the past, navigate the present and imagine the future. In this episode, we talk about his work on Sea Hero Quest (with Michael Hornberger, former guest of this podcast), his new research project Taxi Brains, the difficulties and joys of working with more than one species, and cognitive maps in humans.Time stamps0:00:05: Dealing with email0:04:42: Sea Hero Quest0:25:53: Taxi Brains project0:55:18: The difficulties and benefits of working with humans and non-human animals in the same lab1:11:48: Discussing Hugo's review "The cognitive map in humans: spatial navigation and beyond"Podcast linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-podTwitter: https://geni.us/bjks-pod-twtHugo's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/spiers-webGoogle Scholar:  https://geni.us/spiers-scholarTwitter: https://geni.us/spiers-twtBen's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/bjks-scholarTwitter:  https://geni.us/bjks-twtEpisodes mentioned during our conversation:Michael Hornberger: https://geni.us/bjks-hornbergerKate Jeffery: https://geni.us/bjks-jefferyReferencesBellmund, Gärdenfors, Moser, & Doeller (2018). Navigating cognition: Spatial codes for human thinking. Science.Constantinescu, O'Reilly, & Behrens (2016). Organizing conceptual knowledge in humans with a gridlike code. Science.Doeller, Barry, & Burgess (2010). Evidence for grid cells in a human memory network. Nature.Epstein, Patai, Julian, & Spiers (2017). The cognitive map in humans: spatial navigation and beyond. Nature neuroscience.Gardenfors (2004). Conceptual spaces: The geometry of thought. MIT press.Gardner, Hermansen, Pachitariu, Burak, Baas, Dunn, ... & Moser (2022). Toroidal topology of population activity in grid cells. Nature.Griesbauer, Manley, Wiener, & Spiers (2022). London taxi drivers: A review of neurocognitive studies and an exploration of how they build their cognitive map of London. Hippocampus.Jacobs, Weidemann, ... & Kahana (2013). Direct recordings of grid-like neuronal activity in human spatial navigation. Nature neuroscience.Lever, ... & Burgess (2009). Boundary vector cells in the subiculum of the hippocampal formation. Journal of Neuroscience.Maguire, ... & Frith (2000). Navigation-related structural change in the hippocampi of taxi drivers. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.Newport (2021). A World Without Email: Find Focus and Transform the Way You Work Forever. Penguin UK.O'keefe, & Nadel (1978). The hippocampus as a cognitive map. Oxford university press.Solomon, Lega, Sperling, & Kahana (2019). Hippocampal theta codes for distances in semantic and temporal spaces. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.Solstad, Boccara, Kropff, Moser, & Moser. (2008). Representation of geometric borders in the entorhinal cortex. Science.Spiers (2020). The hippocampal cognitive map: one space or many? Trends in Cognitive Sciences.Tolman (1948). Cognitive maps in rats and men. Psychological review.

Michael Hornberger is a professor of applied dementia research at the University of East Anglia who developed Sea Hero Quest, a mobile game for studying spatial navigation that was downloaded more than 4 million times. In this conversation, we talk about Sea Hero Quest, how Michael (together with Hugo Spiers) developed it, the first findings, and dementia in general.BJKS Podcast is a podcast about neuroscience, psychology, and anything vaguely related, hosted by Benjamin James Kuper-Smith. New conversations every other Friday. You can find the podcast on all podcasting platforms (e.g., Spotify, Apple/Google Podcasts, etc.).Timestamps00:04: How Michael started doing research on dementia02:32: What is Sea Hero Quest?05:18: How Sea Hero Quest got started and developed31:45: Start discussing some results from Sea Hero Quest38:16: How does Sea Hero Quest relate to Michael's work on dementia?43:16: How far are we from using (something like) Sea Hero Quest as an early biomarker for Alzheimer's?45:36: What is dementia and how can we prevent it? Discussing Michael's new book about Alzheimer's 'Tangled Up'Podcast linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-podTwitter: https://geni.us/bjks-pod-twtMichael's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/hornberger-webGoogle Scholar:  https://geni.us/hornberger-scholarTwitter:  https://geni.us/hornberger-twtBook: https://geni.us/hornberger-bookBen's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/bjks-scholarTwitter:  https://geni.us/bjks-twtReferencesAlzheimer (1906). Uber einen eigenartigen, schweren Erkrankungsprozess der Hirnrinde. Neurol. Cbl..Alzheimer, Förstl, & Levy (1991). On certain peculiar diseases of old age. History of psychiatry.Anguera, Boccanfuso, Rintoul, Al-Hashimi, Faraji, Janowich, ... & Gazzaley (2013). Video game training enhances cognitive control in older adults. Nature.See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NeuroRacerCoughlan, Coutrot, Khondoker, Minihane, Spiers & Hornberger (2019). Toward personalized cognitive diagnostics of at-genetic-risk Alzheimer's disease. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.Coughlan, Laczó, Hort, Minihane, & Hornberger (2018). Spatial navigation deficits—overlooked cognitive marker for preclinical Alzheimer disease?. Nature Reviews Neurology.Coughlan, Puthusseryppady, Lowry, Gillings, Spiers, Minihane, & Hornberger (2020). Test-retest reliability of spatial navigation in adults at-risk of Alzheimer's disease. Plos one.Coutrot, Schmidt, Coutrot, Pittman, Hong, Wiener, ... Hornberger, & Spiers (2019). Virtual navigation tested on a mobile app is predictive of real-world wayfinding navigation performance. PloS one.Coutrot, Silva, Manley, de Cothi, Sami, Bohbot, ... Hornberger, & Spiers (2018). Global determinants of navigation ability. Current Biology. Fold.it game: https://fold.it/Hornberger (2021). Tangled up. The science and history of Alzheimer's disease.Kunz, Schröder, Lee, Montag, Lachmann, Sariyska, ... & Axmacher (2015). Reduced grid-cell–like representations in adults at genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease. Science.

What can you learn from studying the brains of London cabbies? Hugo Spiers is Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at UCL. He studies how we remember, navigate and imagine space. Some of his most interesting work has examined the brains of London cabbies who are required to learn the roads of London in painstaking detail. Now he leads the SeaHeroQuest project, in which his team are studying dementia using a mobile game. We talk about his research — which in my opinion is fascinating but I delve a bit deeper — asking how ordinary people can themselves do fascinating research and not get stuck on mind numbingly boring projects. We speak about how he manages his time, how he sees work, mentorship and how he communicates and publicises his research so effectively. I hope you enjoy. Professor Spier's fiction book recommendation: Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe. You can find me on Twitter @MustafaSultan and subscribe to my newsletter on www.musty.io

This episode was originally recorded in April 2017 as we Dr. Hugo Spiers and I were preparing for the Conscious Cities conference the month after. Dr. Spiers acts as lead scientific advisor to the Centric Lab to we took this opportunity to sit down and explore where neuroscience is and how it’s being applied to industry. Dr Spiers is a reader in Neuroscience at University College London where is he is director of the Spatial Cognition research group. Dr. Spiers is also one of the leads of the Ecological Brain project, a 4 year PhD program funded by the Leverhulme Trust. It is a world first research grant focused on understanding the scientific opportunities of applying neuroscience based technologies and theories in the real world, where it has previously only been tested with significance in the lab. Dr. Spiers is a great guy and one thing that really sets him apart is his articulation of such a complex field of research. If you’re interested in reading more about Dr. Spiers work he regularly releases his articles and essays via his twitter feed, his handle is @hugospiers. If you have any questions about the show, or even ideas for it please email us at podcast@thecentriclab.com and feel free to give us a follow on Twitter via @TheCentricLab.

The recent Rosetta mission to image and land a probe on a comet was an astounding achievement. Rosetta took thousands of photos mapping the entire surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko , as it dramatically changed over 2 years. This week analysis of 18000 67P pictures are out of the shade and into the sunlight. Adam Rutherford talks to study leader Raamy El Maary on the intriguing insights and what they suggests about the evolution of comets as they pass through our solar system. And while no-one has any doubt that volcanoes are extremely dangerous forces of nature, Science correspondent Rebecca Morelle was caught in an unusual and terrifying eruption last week. She tells BBC Inside Science the perils of reporting up close from the side of Etna and the rare kind of eruptions that are unique to snowy volcanoes. What are our brains doing when we're navigating through towns and cities? A new study from a team at University College London has made detailed maps of brain activity when negotiating the very windy London streets of Soho and compared it to what our brains are up to when we're simply following a sat nav. Hugo Spiers discusses the results and how this kind of neuroscience has a role to play in the future design of new street networks and cities. And we feature the private life of the octopus - a seemingly alien intelligence right here on Earth as philosopher Peter Godfrey-Smith discusses his new book "Other Minds: The Octopus and the Evolution of Intelligent Life", in which he literally dives into the oceans and delves in to the workings of the octopus mind Producer Adrian Washbourne.

Why do some people have a terrible sense of direction? The team receive a mysterious message from an anonymous listener who constantly gets lost. Can they help her find the answer? This listener may, or may not, be the team's producer, Michelle. She would like to state that it's not her fault that she has been dealt a bad genetic hand which has led to faulty place cells developing in her brain. And head direction cells that appear to be pointing the wrong way. More understanding should surely be afforded to those who are navigationally challenged. Hugo Spiers from University College London, has devised a free game called 'Sea Hero Quest' which anyone can use to test their navigational skills. Plus Catherine Loveday from the University of Westminster suggests strategies to help those who tend to get lost. If you have any Curious Cases for us to solve please email curiouscases@bbc.co.uk Presenters: Adam Rutherford & Hannah Fry Producer: Michelle Martin.

Dr Hugo Spiers, UCL Institute of Behavioural Neuroscience Navigating a city such as London is a challenge. How do we, and the expert London cabbies, use our brain to do this? New neuro-scientific research is beginning to reveal the secrets. You can also watch this lecture on the UCLLHL YouTube channel at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4keunVx6hs UCL is consistently ranked as one of the world's top universities. Across all disciplines our faculties are known for their research-intensive approaches, academic excellence and engagement with global challenges. This is the basis of our world-renowned degree programmes. Visit us at http://ucl.ac.uk.

Combining virtual reality and treadmills to map navigation in the brain. We ask how starlings flock in such a synchronised murmuration. And in the news, inducing creativity by electrically tweaking human brains, how video games could help national security, plus we find out what's been keeping Professor Gage up all night! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Combining virtual reality and treadmills to map navigation in the brain. We ask how starlings flock in such a synchronised murmuration. And in the news, inducing creativity by electrically tweaking human brains, how video games could help national security, plus we find out what's been keeping Professor Gage up all night! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Simon Frantz is joined by Mo and Hugo to discuss Christopher Nolan's 2000 film 'Memento'.