“I drive stupidly and I never remember anything from my journeys”: when GPS addiction reduces your sense of direction

Robin admits: "I always use GPS . Even on routes I've driven 3-4 times, I can't manage without it. I drive stupidly and I never remember anything from my journeys." This testimony illustrates a scientifically proven social phenomenon. Several recent studies show that our dependence on GPS - the most well-known application Waze , or systems integrated into the vehicle, has lasting consequences on our natural navigation abilities: the famous sense of direction. Marlène, too, can no longer go anywhere without her electronic assistant: "I can't go to a place I don't know without GPS. I'm too stressed. Even when I've been to a place several times, I need my GPS." She recounts how, when the tool bugged, telling her to turn around, she blindly obeyed for 5-6 kilometers before realizing that it was taking her home.

This dependency sometimes leads to ludicrous situations. Reddit user Richard recounts his encounter with a person "100% dependent on GPS" who couldn't read a map. While the two protagonists were scheduled to meet at the foot of Richard's building, his partner was waiting for him further away, at the place where taxis usually stop: this is what the GPS had told him. "It was surprising to meet someone who only referred to GPS instructions. This person is a traveler and has visited many places around the world," he says.

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While these reports are growing, scientists have taken the issue very seriously. A meta-analysis published in November 2024 in the Journal of Environmental Psychology - covering 23 studies and participants aged 16 to 84 - clearly establishes that "people who [use GPS more] tend to have slightly lower environmental awareness and a poorer sense of direction ."

In 2020, researchers Louisa Dahmani and Véronique D. Bohbot, in the journal Scientific Reports, had already demonstrated the direct causality between GPS use and the deterioration of spatial abilities. According to them, repeated use of this aid affects the hippocampus, this brain region crucial for spatial memory and orientation. "The use of GPS makes navigation less cognitively demanding," they noted. The result is "reduced use of spatial memory strategies, reduced cognitive mapping abilities, and reduced encoding of landmarks."

When asked about this study, Robin says he has had bitter experience. "I have a few anecdotes. I live in Toulouse , I was leaving two hours away, and this time: I didn't use the GPS. As a result, I went in the opposite direction and made a 45-minute detour. This convinces me that GPS makes you lose your orientation." The problem is that the GPS cycle is vicious. "People with a lower ability to learn spatial information and form environmental knowledge tend to use assisted navigation systems more frequently in everyday life, thus weakening their navigation skills," the scientists note.

Yet not all drivers fall into this trap. Nicolas, with 30 years of experience behind the wheel and his business trips, has adopted a different approach: he uses GPS as a tool while always maintaining human control over it. "When I take my GPS off, my reflexes return very quickly. I usually never trust machines but rather my experience. I have the reflex to know when it is wrong, because three times out of four they can give false directions: they don't follow detours or roadworks, or the maps are not up to date." This distrust allows him to maintain his natural navigation skills while occasionally benefiting from technological assistance.

In a way, Nicolas promotes a method: use technology without giving in to it, maintain a critical mind, and continue to use your own cognitive abilities. Keeping this "brain gymnastics" of orientation active also means preserving your autonomy and ability to adapt to the unexpected.