This book reviews the psychology and neuroscience of how we find our way. It starts with a history of studies on how organisms solve mazes. This work has its origins in the efforts of behaviourists, psychologists such as John Watson, who sought a firmer scientific footing for the field by focusing on measurable phenomenon, such as how rats solve spatial mazes. The book then reviews contemporary studies of spatial cognition and the wayfinding abilities of adults and children. In children, the perception of space can be distorted but improves with development. For adults, the ability to keep tra ... More

This book reviews the psychology and neuroscience of how we find our way. It starts with a history of studies on how organisms solve mazes. This work has its origins in the efforts of behaviourists, psychologists such as John Watson, who sought a firmer scientific footing for the field by focusing on measurable phenomenon, such as how rats solve spatial mazes. The book then reviews contemporary studies of spatial cognition and the wayfinding abilities of adults and children. In children, the perception of space can be distorted but improves with development. For adults, the ability to keep track of one's orientation in the absence of landmarks is limited. Next there is a consideration of how specific parts of the brain provide a cognitive map and a neural compass. A deeply influential view is that the hippocampus — a brain structure that in humans in essential for normal memory — contains of cognitive map. Work on place cells, the element of this map, and head-direction and grid neurons is summarised. This book also considers the neurology of spatial disorientation and the tendency of patients with Alzheimer's disease to lose their way. It concludes with the proposal that we get lost because our brain's compass becomes misoriented.