To compensate for our environmental disorientation, we use technology – paper maps, signposts, & smartphones. Perhaps we jump in a taxi. We use devices to essentially teleport us from one place to another, paying little attention to our surroundings and losing connection with the in-between. Because we often don’t really “know” where we are, we navigate inefficiently. Worse, our travel experience is often poor. This disconnection from our surroundings causes people-jams in crowded spaces, but it also has another consequence: it separates us from our planet, such that we’ve stopped caring about it. Dr. Jeffery is a medical graduate and Professor of Behavioural Neuroscience at UCL. Her research involves recording of neurons in the rodent brain during navigation, to understand how the brain represents complex environments. She aims to bring emerging knowledge about the cognitive neuroscience of navigation to the outside world to influence the design of cities and of navigation technology. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at
To compensate for our environmental disorientation, we use technology – paper maps, signposts, & smartphones. Perhaps we jump in a taxi. We use devices to essentially teleport us from one place to another, paying little attention to our surroundings and losing connection with the in-between. Because we often don’t really “know” where we are, we navigate inefficiently. Worse, our travel experience is often poor. This disconnection from our surroundings causes people-jams in crowded spaces, but it also has another consequence: it separates us from our planet, such that we’ve stopped caring about it. Dr. Jeffery is a medical graduate and Professor of Behavioural Neuroscience at UCL. Her research involves recording of neurons in the rodent brain during navigation, to understand how the brain represents complex environments. She aims to bring emerging knowledge about the cognitive neuroscience of navigation to the outside world to influence the design of cities and of navigation technology. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at
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