A Dubai Diary on Spatial Orientation (1)

John O'Keefe, Edvard Moser and May-Britt Moser

British-American John O'Keefe and Norwegians May-Britt and Edvard Moser [recently] won the 2014 Nobel Prize for Medicine for discovering the brain's navigation system and giving clues as to how strokes and Alzheimer's disrupt it.

The Nobel Assembly, which awarded the prize of 8 million Swedish crowns ($1.1 million) at Sweden's Karolinska Institute on Monday, said the discovery solved a problem that had occupied philosophers and scientists for centuries:

"How does the brain create a map of the space surrounding us and how can we navigate our way through a complex environment?"

Reference: Nobel Prize for Medicine goes to discoverers of brain's 'inner GPS'.

I was particularly curious about these scientists' discovery, because of the struggle I had in navigating the highway system when I lived in Dubai.  I had driven around on a few visits there, and one time I got terribly lost and gnarled in traffic, while looking for an apartment in Deira.  So when I moved there in August 2006, I resolved to better familiarize myself.  Friday morning there is like Sunday morning here in the US, and for several such mornings, I woke up early and drove around in the absence of traffic.  Getting to and from work was a priority focus, plus getting to key areas, such as shopping malls, parks and beaches.  This helped me create a mental map of my new locale, and thereby get a bearing on where I was at any given time and how to get to where I needed to get. 

Over 40 years of research, O'Keefe, Moser and Moser found a particular nerve cells in the hippocampus:

These so-called "grid [or place] cells"... are constantly working to create a map of the outside world and are responsible for animals' knowing where they are, where they have been, and where they are going.

I had fashioned a reliable grid system from all of my years of driving around, not just in my locale here but across states I've traveled to.  However, my challenge was (a) to set aside that US grid system and (b) create a new one for the UAE.  It became clear over time that (a) was more difficult for me than (b).  The fact that I was driving around more like an American, instead of a Dubai resident, at times disrupted my efforts to find certain places.  So this week I capture select entries from my journals, which speak to creating my Algorithm for Spatial Orientation. 

December 3rd 2010

I can create an algorithm for solving the more prominent issue, namely, my spatial orientation: 

• Meditate. Stay calm.
• Clear my mind, and visualize my movement through that space. Memorize both the sequence of my movement as well as landmarks that help me remember that sequence.
• Review directions and the location map, more from a ‘local’ mindset (i.e. non-logical, error prone, landmark based, no compass direction).
• Use the GPS system on my BlackBerry.
• Pray to God for help.

I don’t like being in malls. I hate crowds. But while I got disoriented in the underground car park of the Dubai Mall, for example, I found my way from where I parked and entered, to the dancing fountains and Carluccio’s Restaurant, where I met Mai-Li a week ago. I asked someone for directions once. I was also careful to memorize this pathway, so I could retrace it and of course find my car.

The same thing on Wednesday morning, at the Marina Mall. I missed a service road that I normally take to get there. But, no worries I thought, the next one took me inside the underground car park. But this was a bit disorienting, too. I parked, entered the Mall. I somehow managed to keep a mental orientation of how the Mall was situated outside, so I knew generally which direction to head when I came inside. I asked someone for directions once. Again, I memorized my car space number, elevator location, and the pathway from where I came in. But still I found myself saying, “I don’t know where I am. I don’t know where I am.” The security guard said to go up to the 2nd level, so I kept taking the escalator up. I was still lost, when I got to that level. But I must say that God was navigating me. God is always navigating me; He is the only navigator for me.  For as I turned a corner, God only knew where, Nedal was right there, unexpectedly, and he walked me to The Address lobby where we had planned to meet!

It was last week, too, that I was unwittingly developing my Algorithm for Spatial Orientation, when I was going home from Sharjah. I thought I could just drive around, and even see a sign that pointed me toward Dubai. Well, no, this is the Middle East. After driving around for an hour, I thought to use my BB GPS. I was getting really exasperated, so I had to calm myself down and stop the car to orient myself. I did something cool. I checked how the GPS navigator changed, as I traveled from one spot (stoplight) to a petrol station, and thus learned not only how it was representing ‘me’ but also how I was situated vis-à-vis my surroundings (i.e. my orientation). Interestingly, my navigator guided me back to Dubai with a sort of highlighter on its map. So, from that petrol station, for example, I knew I had to make a u-turn at the next roundabout. It was perfect. As I approached an intersection, I knew exactly where to keep going straight and where to turn. I simply would not have found my way home by just driving around. This is the Middle East, so logical means of orientation does not exist.