Does the practice of navigation offer protection against Alzheimer’s disease?

New evidence has emerged that supports the theory (which I discuss in INCREDIBLE JOURNEYS/SUPERNAVIGATORS) that exercising our innate navigational skills may help protect us from Alzheimer’s disease.

A population-based study in the US found that taxi and ambulance drivers, whose occupations require substantial navigational memory, had the lowest Alzheimer’s disease mortality of all occupations. One hypothetical explanation of this notable finding is that these occupations are associated with neurological changes (in the hippocampus or elsewhere) that reduce Alzheimer’s disease risk.

Further research will be needed to show that there is a causal link between the practice of navigation and a reduction in the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease but the new findings are very striking.