ArticlePloS one2023
Orienteering experts report more proficient spatial processing and memory across adulthood.
Article in PloS one, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- Dietary assessment of elite orienteering athletes.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Neural correlates of map representation and spatial orientation in orienteering experts: an fNIRS study.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2026Article
- Article
- Research on changes in psychological, physical fatigue and emotional states in the National Youth Orienteering Preparation Camp.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Tell me your date of birth, and I will tell you how good you are in orienteering.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2025Article
- Article
- Young Adults' Lived Experiences with Cancer-Related Cognitive Impairment: An Exploratory Qualitative Study.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2023Article
- Spatial navigation and memory: A review of the similarities and differences relevant to brain models and age.Neuron · 2023Review
- Effects of mental rotation on map representation in orienteers-behavioral and fNIRS evidence.PeerJ · 2023Article
- Cognitive-motor interventions based on virtual reality and instrumental activities of daily living (iADL): an overview.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2023Review
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The closest surrogate to hunter-gather activity is the sport of orienteering, which naturally and simultaneously combines high-intensity interval exercise with navigation. Although human cognition can be improved across the lifespan through exercise and cognitive training, interventions like orienteering may be especially effective because they resemble activities engaged in by prehistoric humans during evolution. The present study tested whether orienteering experts have better hippocampal-dependent cognitive function than active, non-orienteering controls. One-hundred and fifty-eight healthy adults between the ages of 18 and 87 years old with varying experience in orienteering (none, intermediate, advanced, elite) reported on their spatial processing, spatial memory and episodic memory using the Navigational Strategy Questionnaire and the Survey of Autobiographical Memory. Orienteering experts reported greater use of allocentric and egocentric spatial processing and better spatial memory than controls. In contrast, episodic memory was not associated with orienteering expertise. Notably, the significant effects of orienteering on spatial cognition remained even after controlling for age, sex, and physical activity, suggesting that orienteering may be an effective intervention to prevent age-related cognitive decline in spatial navigation and memory.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.