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A memory expert in Montreal has found an association between “habitual” use of GPS and spatial memory deterioration.

Thinking of trying to squeeze in one last road trip before summer’s end?

If so, before you hit the open road, you might want to think about how heavily you rely on a tool that many drivers now go to automatically: GPS (Global Positioning System). It might save you from getting lost, but a memory expert in Montreal has found an association between “habitual” use of GPS and spatial memory deterioration.

“We did spatial memory tests and found that degradation was correlated to GPS frequency,” said Véronique Bohbot, a scientist at the Douglas Research Centre and a professor of psychiatry at McGill University. “There was a difference between people who use GPS every day for every trip and the people who didn’t use GPS at all or just occasionally, say, once a…