Arizona
University of Arizona researchers explore how navigation shapes the brain
When you walk across campus, drive a familiar route, or remember where you left your keys, your brain is quietly solving complex problems of space and memory.
At the University of Arizona, researchers are working to understand how these abilities change the brain and how that knowledge could someday help people facing memory loss or dementia.
The study explored how training in memory and navigation impacts brain structure and connectivity. The study was led by Dr. Arne Ekstrom, professor of psychology and director of the Human Spatial Cognition Laboratory, and Dr. Li Zheng, a research scientist, in collaboration with Dr. Steven Weisberg, professor of psychology at the University of Florida and co-senior author, as part of a partnership between the University of Arizona and the University of Texas, Arlington.
The highways of the brain
“We expected to see growth in the hippocampus because past studies showed that intensive navigation training, like what London taxi drivers experience, increases its volume,” Ekstrom said. “But what we found was that the structure itself didn’t change. Instead, the connections between brain regions did.”
A view of the virtual “mock city” where participants navigate digital streets to help researchers study how the brain maps and remembers space.
The hippocampus, a small structure deep in the brain, is critical for forming memories and navigating environments. While the volume of the hippocampus remained stable, the “highways” that link it to other regions became stronger.
“You can think of it like cities and roads,” Ekstrom explained. “We didn’t see the cities getting bigger, but the highways between them became more active. The communication between brain regions improved.”
Training the brain
For the study, young adults underwent 10 days of training designed to strengthen memory and navigation skills.
The results showed that people with larger hippocampi learned more quickly. This finding could help tailor cognitive training to individuals.
Research specialist Joshua Garren demonstrates the lab’s virtual reality treadmill setup.
While the current research focused on younger adults, Ekstrom and his team are expanding the study to include older adults to explore how aging affects these same connections.
“Older adults tend to learn a little slower, so our next step is a longer training program,” Ekstrom said. “We want to know if strengthening these connections could help preserve navigation and memory skills that often decline with age.”
Zheng said this research also offers an opportunity to compare two key areas of her work — memory and navigation — and how they interact in the brain.
“To me, it’s a good opportunity to compare two related but different topics,” she said. “I’ve been working in the episodic memory area for many years, and now that I’ve joined Dr. Ekstrom’s lab, I’ve started doing research on navigation. This study helps me understand how these two important functions in our daily lives connect and how they differ from each other.”
She added that while this study focuses on younger participants, it can still inform her long-term goal of studying aging and memory loss.
“This gives me new insight into how to understand older adults and how their spatial memory might differ,” Zheng said.
Toward rehabilitation and prevention
The findings open new questions about how short-term training might influence the brain’s memory and navigation systems over time. Ekstrom says the study reinforces a hopeful message that the brain remains capable of change even in adulthood.
A computer prompt guides participants through a virtual navigation task.
“Our long-term goal is to apply this knowledge to rehabilitation,” he said. “If we can understand how to keep the brain’s navigation system active, maybe we can slow or even prevent cognitive decline.”
For Zheng, the project is also deeply personal and scientific.
“I’ve always been fascinated by how memory works,” she said. “By comparing how memory and navigation connect in the brain, we can better understand not just how we think, but how we can help people maintain those abilities as they age.”
The path forward
Future studies will test whether memory and navigation training can translate to real-world improvements, such as finding new routes or remembering daily tasks.
“It’s one thing to see changes in the lab,” Ekstrom said. “But the big question is: can this training help people in everyday life — or even protect them from dementia? That’s what we’re working toward.”
For both researchers, the motivation is clear.
“About 15 to 20 percent of older adults will develop some form of dementia,” Ekstrom said. “If our work can make even a small difference in that, it’s worth it.”
To learn more about the Human Spatial Cognition Laboratory and its studies, click here.
PHOENIX — 89-year-old Robert Young is battling Arizona State University in court over the Louis Emerson home, one of the oldest remaining houses in the Phoenix Churchill area.
At the corner of 4th and Pierce streets sits a home that pre-dates Arizona statehood, and now sits at the center of a legal battle between its owner and Arizona State University.
ASU wants the land where the Louis Emerson home stands. The university is planning a medical and technology school nearby and says it wants to exercise its right of possession over the property.
But Young, who has owned the home since 1975, is not backing down.
“It’s not gonna happen. That’s what I thought then and that’s what I think today. I will not let it happen,” Young said.
Marshall Shore, known as the Hip Historian, says the home is one of the oldest remaining houses in the Phoenix Churchill area, built before Arizona was even a state.
“This house was here before statehood, before Arizona even thought of becoming a state; this house was here, and so it deserves to tell that story and continue on,” Shore said.
Shore says the home’s history is rooted in everyday life.
“It was an everyday man’s house. He was a butcher,” Shore said.
Young says he and his wife lived in the home for 8 years before renting it out. He calls it an architectural and historic treasure that is irreplaceable. He says the legal battle is taking a toll on both of them.
“It’s stressful. You don’t know from day to day if you’re gonna find the house on the corner,” Young said.
Young says the university offered him between $290,000 and nearly $1 million for the property. Maricopa County Superior Court records show the Arizona Board of Regents sued Young for the home earlier this month.
According to the Arizona Republic, ASU gave a written statement explaining that they made several offers to Young on his home. Their final offer was based on an appraisal, and it was not accepted.
Shore says the home does not need to come down and has a vision for how it could coexist with the planned medical school.
“I mean there’s nothing more sustainable than keeping a house where it is. Create a pocket park around it, so that way people can come and enjoy that little pocket park and make it really a gem in the community,” Shore said.
Shore says an online petition in support of preserving the home has gathered more than 10,000 signatures.
Young wants ASU and the public to understand what is truly at stake.
“It’s the way it’s placed on the corner, and it’s the fact that this corner itself is historic,” Young said.
Young is expected to appear in court on Sept. 4 to explain why the home should not be torn down.
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A look at where the Arizona Cardinals rank in new NFL power rankings based on level of interest.
We are in the dead of the offseason in the NFL, when we are simply waiting for training camps to start. It is a good time for more lists and rankings.
AZCentral Sports’ Bob McManaman put together NFL power rankings for all 32 teams, but based on interest level.
Where do the Arizona Cardinals fall?
As you can probably imagine, it is near the bottom. They find themselves in the tier of “watch at your own risk,” which includes the five lowest-ranked teams. The Cardinals come in at No. 30.
Who’s going to emerge as the starting quarterback and will it even matter? At some point, rookie Carson Beck is going to get his shot and by then, the season might already be heading toward a disaster. Stay tuned to learn how rookie Jeremiyah Love and the running backs will split time, how the defense hopes to rediscover itself and how first-year coach Mike LaFleur plans to get things off the ground.
For fans, there is fantasy intrigue for their pass catchers in Trey McBride, Marvin Harrison Jr. and Michael Wilson, and we want to know how big a season Love can be, but Jacoby Brissett is the least interesting starting quarterback in the league. He is neither young, nor accomplished nor has a track record of winning.
They have no flash defensively.
To say they are more interesting than the New York Jets and Cleveland Browns, the two lowest-ranked teams, is a stretch, although none of these three teams are remotely interesting.
The NFC West, outside of the Cardinals, has interesting teams. There are the defending champion Seattle Seahawks, the loaded LA Rams and then a San Francisco 49ers team that keeps up, even without as loaded a roster.
Training camp is coming soon!
Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.
OLYMPIA, Wash. — A missing and endangered child from Arizona was found at the homeless encampment known as “The Jungle” in Olympia, after investigators received information that the child may have been a victim of sex trafficking. U.S. marshals said.
The girl had been reported missing to the Mesa, Arizona, Police Department in May, the U.S. Marshals Service said.
On June 18, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children notified the agency that the child was potentially being sex trafficked in Washington state.
The encampment is in the greenbelt along Interstate 5 on both sides of the Sleater-Kinney Road exit in Olympia. (KOMO News)
A deputy U.S. marshal assigned to missing children investigations in the Western District of Washington developed a lead that brought authorities to the 3200 block of Martin Way East, a 20-acre homeless encampment known as “The Jungle.”
The agency described the area as having high rates of violence and community safety concerns. Back in 2023, a woman was found dead at the homeless encampment.
The city’s estimate of the number of people at the encampment generally ranges from about 100 to 250 people, with additional visitors sometimes coming to the site during the day. Overall, the number varies throughout the year, Olympia city officials said.
City staff visit the site several times each week, while service providers offer food, water, clothing, sanitation services, and other basic assistance.
On Thursday, U.S. marshals, assisted by the Washington State Department of Corrections, canvassed the encampment and found the missing child. The female juvenile was transferred to the Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families and the Olympia Police Department for treatment and victim assistance.
“Protecting our nation’s children is of the highest importance,” Acting U.S. Marshal Donrien Stephens said in a statement. He credited local, state, and community partners for helping safely recover a youth at elevated risk of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation.
A photo of an Olympia homeless camp, where a man was arrested by police after allegedly throwing “softball-sized rocks” at firefighters who were responding to an active fire. (KOMO News)
The U.S. Marshals Service said the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015 expanded its authority to help law enforcement recover endangered missing children, regardless of whether a fugitive or sex offender is involved, and led to the creation of its Missing Child Unit.
Since the law’s passage, the agency said it has contributed to locating or recovering 5,281 missing children.
The child’s exact age was not made public by U.S. marshals, just that she had been found safe.
The Marshals Service asked anyone with information about wanted fugitives to contact the nearest U.S. Marshals office or the agency’s Communications Center at 1-800-336-0102.
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