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When was the last time you were in a car with someone who drove for more than 15 minutes without a navigation app?
你最后一次和没开导航驾车超过15分钟的人在一起是什么时候？
Maybe it was yesterday. Maybe you're one of those people who knows exactly where to get off an unfamiliar highway
也许是昨天。也许你是那种知道从陌生的高速公路出来的确切地点，
and can weave through three different exit lanes, two intersecting off-ramps, and an overpass without missing a beat.
可以穿过三条不同车道，两个交叉下匝道和立交桥，却不会迷路的人。
But if you are, you should know that you're a complete mystery to people who would probably be stuck in the middle of the desert somewhere
如果你是这种人的话，你应该知道，对于那些如果没有导航引导就会困在沙漠中某个地方的人来说，
if they had to drive without a Maps app to guide them. Or at least someone in the passenger seat holding a map, in those ancient times before most people had GPS.
你完全就是神一样的存在。在大多数人还没有GPS之前，至少要有人坐在乘客席上拿张纸质地图指路吧。
The way our sense of direction works is mysterious to scientists, too. But there might be a whole system for it in our brains — and practice could help improve it.
我们的方向感对科学家来说也很神秘。在我们的大脑中可能有一个完整的系统，而练习有助于提高这种能力。
To learn about how navigation works at a cellular level, researchers turned to a species that humans actually have a lot in common with: rats!
为了解导航如何在细胞水平上工作，研究人员用到了与人类有很多共同点的物种：老鼠！
Since in the 1940s, researchers have identified several types of neurons that work together to help rats navigate.
自20世纪40年代以来，研究人员已经确定了几种协同工作帮助老鼠导航的神经元。
Grid cells are thought to help provide a sense of how far apart certain locations are. They fire in evenly spaced intervals in a hexagonal pattern.
他们认为网格细胞有助于提供不同位置相隔距离的感觉，以均匀间隔的六边形图案传递信息。
Head direction cells fire when the animal is facing a specific direction.
当动物面向特定方向时，朝向神经元开始传递信息。
Border cells, on the other hand, fire when the animal reaches a border, like the edge of a box.
而当动物到达盒子边等边缘位置时，边界细胞传递信息。
And then there are place cells, which...fire in specific places. And as far as we can tell, humans seem to navigate in similar ways.
还有位置细胞，位于特定位置时该种细胞传递信息。据我们所知，人类似乎以类似的方式进行导航。
However, this system hasn't been tested much in humans, because if you want to record data from individual brain cells, you need to place electrodes inside the brain itself.
然而，研究该系统在人体内运行的试验还比较少，因为如果想记录个体脑细胞的数据，需要把电极放在大脑内部。
But some people with severe epilepsy already have electrodes implanted in their brains to monitor their seizures and help surgeons figure out how to treat them.
但一些严重癫痫症患者已经在大脑中植有电极，用以监测癫痫发作情况，并帮助外科医生确定治疗方法。
And it turns out that some of those people are also willing to help scientists who want to learn more about the brain.
其中一些人也愿意帮助那些想更多地了解大脑的科学家。
In a few different studies, researchers had people with the electrodes do navigation tasks in virtual reality,
在一些不同的研究中，研究人员让带有电极的人在虚拟现实中执行导航任务，
and identified grid and place cells in humans that were very similar to those in rats.
他们在人体内发现了与大鼠非常相似的网格细胞和位置细胞。
So we have some idea of the different types of cells that come together to help us navigate.
所有，我们对共同帮助我们导航的不同类型的细胞有了一定了解。
But that doesn't tell us much about why some people are so much better at finding their way around than others.
但这并不能告诉我们为什么有些人比其他人更善于导航。
A lot of those differences seem to be connected to the size of the hippocampus,
很多差异似乎与海马的大小有关，
the part of the brain that's involved in both spatial navigation and long-term memory.
海马是涉及空间导航和长期记忆的大脑部分。
For example, studies have found that people with a larger hippocampus perform better on spatial navigation tasks and are more likely to report having a better sense of direction.
例如，研究发现海马较大的人在空间导航任务上表现更好，方向感更佳。
Improved connections between the hippocampus and other brain areas have been associated with better navigation skills, too.
海马和其他大脑区域之间更好的联结也与更佳的导航技能相关。
Of course, we can't really know if these people are better at navigating because they have a larger hippocampus
当然，我们无法知道这些人是因为具有更大的海马才更擅长导航，
or if they have a larger hippocampus because they're better at navigating.
还是因为他们更擅长导航而拥有更大的海马。
Brain studies are complicated that way. But there seems to be a pretty close connection.
针对大脑的研究极其复杂，但它们之间似乎有着非常密切的联系。
And we do know that your life experiences can change the size of the hippocampus.
我们知道生活经历会改变海马的大小。
For example, multiple studies in taxi drivers, who have tons of practice with spatial navigation,
比如，对出租车司机进行的多项研究发现，随着时间的推移
have found that parts of their hippocampi got bigger over time compared to non-taxi drivers.
他们的海马要比非出租车司机大。
Another study looked at whether a 4-month navigation training program could affect the usual decrease in the size of the hippocampus as people get older.
另一项研究考察为期4个月的导航训练计划是否会对随人们年龄增长海马体积缩小这一情况产生影响。
And the researchers found that its size didn't decrease as much as in people who didn't participate in the program.
研究人员发现，这些参加训练的人，他们的海马体积缩小程度比未参加该训练的人少。
So your experiences do seem to matter here — which is convenient, because you can give yourself more experience with spatial navigation by just practicing.
所以说，经验似乎就变得很重要了，这并不难，因为可以通过练习获得更多的空间导航经验。
For example, one study found that practicing navigation in virtual reality helped both people with and without brain damage get better at it.
比如，有一项研究发现，在虚拟现实中练习导航，对于没有脑损伤的人或脑损伤患者来说都能提高导航能力。
Unfortunately, there haven't been many studies on the best way to practice. Using your cell phone is probably a bad idea, though.
很遗憾，关于最佳训练方法的研究还并不多。不过，用手机导航可能是个坏主意。
A 2008 study in the Journal of Environmental Psychology found that people using a GPS traveled less efficiently
2008年《环境心理学杂志》上的一项研究发现，与未使用GPS的人相比，
and had less accurate mental maps compared to people who didn't use GPS.
使用GPS的人旅行效率较低，心理地图的准确度也较低。
Although, again, it's hard to know whether not using the GPS made them better at navigating,
但话说回来，很难知道是否是不使用GPS使他们能更好地导航，
or if they didn't use the GPS because they were better at navigating.
还是因为他们更擅长导航所以不用GPS。
Yet another study found that those using mobile maps were worse at estimating route distances than people using traditional maps.
不过另一项研究发现，使用移动地图的人在估计路线距离方面比使用纸质地图的人差。
Since most of us do have access to mobile maps almost all of the time, maybe this is one of those things that people just...don't really need to be good at anymore.
因为大多数人几乎一直都用移动地图，也许不需要再擅长此道了。
Like memorizing phone numbers. But if you do want to get better at finding your way around, it's probably not too late to change your brain.
就像记电话号码一样。但如果你想更好地导航，或许改变大脑结构还为为时不晚。
Alternatively, if you're someone who gets lost going anywhere — like to the grocery store — you could sign up for a subscription meal kit service, like Sun Basket!
如果你是个爱迷路的人，比如去杂货店找不到路，可以注册送餐服务，比如Sun Basket外送公司！
Sun Basket is great because it caters to all kinds of diets, including specialty ones like vegan, gluten-free, and paleo.
Sun Basket超级棒，因为他们外送各种餐食，包括素食、无麸质食品等等。
I'm excited to try their Hoisin glazed chicken and their glass noodle salad!
想想要尝他家的海鲜酱釉鸡肉和他们的粉丝沙拉，我就兴奋不已！
Their packaging is also recyclable and compostable, they're committed to providing the best organic produce, and the meals are all easy to cook.
他们的包装也是可回收和可堆肥的，他们致力于提供最好的有机产品，饭菜都很容易烹饪。
So no matter what you eat or how much cooking experience you have, there's something in it for you.
无论你想吃什么或者会不会做饭，都能买到你想要的美食啦。
If you want to check them out, you can go to GetSunBasket.com/Psych to get 60% off your first delivery.
如果想试试，可以去GetSunBasket.com/Psych，第一次送货打四折。
Thanks for watching this episode of SciShow Psych! If you're interested in learning more about the inner workings of the human mind —well, no GPS required.
感谢收看这一集的心理科学秀！如果你想了解更多有关大脑内部运作方式的知识，不需要GPS噢，
Just go to youtube.com/scishowpsych and subscribe!
快去youtube.com/scishowpsych订阅吧！
