Publications - Videos & Podcasts - News

Publications

- C. Seton, A. Coutrot, M. Hornberger, H J. Spiers, R. Knight, C Whyatt. (March 9, 2026). Wayfinding and path integration deficits detected using a virtual reality mobile app in patients with traumatic brain injury. PLoS ONE 18(3)

- T Zaksaite, C Loveday, T Edginton, HJ Spiers, AD Smith. (2023). Hydrocephalus: A neuropsychological and theoretical primer. Cortex, Volume 160, Pages 67-99.

- PS Muhle-Karbe, H Sheahan, G Pezzulo, HJ Spiers, S Chien, NW Schuck, C Summerfield. (Feb 2023). Goal-seeking compresses neural codes for space in the human hippocampus and orbitofrontal cortex. Biorxiv preprint.

- R Dalton, J Wiener, D Yesiltepe, A Adams, N Dalton, H Spiers, M Hornberger. (Feb 2023). Motivational Factors for Participating in Citizen Science Games. Northumbria Research Link.

- Greg L. West, Zita Eva Patai, Antoine Coutrot, Michael Hornberger, Véronique D. Bohbot, & Hugo J. Spiers. (2023). Landmark-dependent Navigation Strategy Declines across the Human Life-Span: Evidence from Over 37,000 Participants. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 1–16, 35 (3): 452–467.

- A. Coutrot, A. S. Lazar, M. Richards, E. Manley, J. M. Wiener, R. C. Dalton, M. Hornberger & H. J. Spiers. (2022). Reported sleep duration reveals segmentation of the adult life-course into three phases. Nature Communications, 13, 7697.

- Puthusseryppady, V., Morrissey, S., Spiers, H. J., Patel, M., & Hornberger, M. (2022). Predicting real world spatial disorientation in Alzheimer’s disease patients using virtual reality navigation tests. Scientific reports, 12(1), 1-12.

- A. Coutrot, E. Manley, S. Goodroe, C. Gahnstrom, G. Filomena, D. Yesiltepe, R. C. Dalton, J. M. Wiener, C. Hölscher, M. Hornberger & H. J. Spiers. (2022). Entropy of city street networks linked to future spatial navigation ability. Nature, 604, 104–110

- McElhinney, S., Zisch, F., Hornsberger, M., Coutrot, A., Spiers, H. J., & Hanna, S. (2022). Exosomatic Route Choice in Navigation: Evidence from video game player data. Proceedings of the 13th Space Syntax Symposium.

- Spiers, H. J., Coutrot, A., & Hornberger, M. (2022). How the environment shapes our ability to navigate. Clinical and Translational Medicine, 12(6).

- Spiers, H. J., Coutrot, A., & Hornberger, M. (2021). Explaining World‐Wide Variation in Navigation Ability from Millions of People: Citizen Science Project Sea Hero Quest. Topics in Cognitive Science.

- Commins, S., Coutrot, A., Hornberger, M., Spiers, H. J., & De Andrade Moral, R. (2022). Examining individual learning patterns using generalized linear mixed models. PsyArXiv.

- Spiers, H. (2021). Lost. The Psychologist, 34, 30-35.

- Dubois, H., Le Callet, P., Hornberger, M., Spiers, H. J., & Coutrot, A. (2021). Capturing and explaining trajectory singularities using composite signal neural networks. 28th European Signal Processing Conference (EUSIPCO) (pp. 1422-1426). IEEE.

- Yesiltepe, D., Ozbil Torun, A., Coutrot, A., Hornberger, M., Spiers, H., & Conroy Dalton, R. (2021). Computer models of saliency alone fail to predict subjective visual attention to landmarks during observed navigation. Spatial Cognition & Computation, 21(1), 39-66.

- Chapin, B.A., Khondoker, M., Coughlan, G., Spiers, H. J., & Hornberger, M. (2020). Navigation ability before and after menopause. Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's association.

- Yesiltepe, D., Torun, A. O., Coutrot, A., Hornberger, M., Spiers, H. J., & Dalton, R.C. (2020). Computer models of saliency alone fail to predict subjective visual attention to landmarks during observed navigation. Spatial Cognition & Computation. (p 39-66).

- Coughlan, G., Puthusseryppady, V., Lowry, E., Gillings, R., Spiers, H. J., Minihane, A-M, et al. (2020). Test-retest reliability of spatial navigation in adults at-risk of Alzheimer’s disease. PLoS one.

- Coutrot, A., Manley, E., Yesiltepe, D., Dalton, R. C., Wiener, J. M., Holscher, C., Hornberger, M., & Spiers, H. J. (27/01/2026). Cities have a negative impact on navigation ability: evidence from 38 countries. bioRxiv. Now published in Nature doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-04486-7.

- Coughlan, G., Coutrot, A., Khondoker, M., Minihane, A., Spiers, H. J., & Hornberger, M. (2019). Toward personalized cognitive diagnostics of at-genetic-risk Alzheimer’s disease. PNAS.

- Coutrot, A., Schmidt, S., Coutrot, L., Pittman, J., Hong, L., Wiener, J. M., ... & Spiers, H. J. (2019). Virtual navigation tested on a mobile app is predictive of real-world wayfinding navigation performance. PloS one.

- Coutrot, A., Silva, R., Manley, E., de Cothi, W., Sami, S., Bohbot, V., Wiener, J. M., Hölscher, C., Dalton, R. C., Hornberger, M., Spiers, H. J. (2018). Global determinants of navigation ability. Current Biology.

Videos and Podcasts

- Gamespot and Sea Hero Quest: The Game To Save The Human Brain. (Oct 2, 2025)

- Health Points - Health Gamification: Michael Hornberger - Sea Hero Quest’s navigation to over 4 million players. (Apr 06, 2026)

- BJKS Podcast: Michael Hornberger - Sea Hero Quest, developing games for science, and Alzheimer's disease. (Nov 26, 2025)

- Sea Hero Quest: The Project Story

- Sea Hero Quest and Glitchers: The Game Story

- Sea Hero Quest and ARUK: #GameForGood

- Sea Hero Quest and Deutsche Telekom: Research findings

- Listen to THIS: Exploring the potential of citizen science. Episode 6. Univeristy of Cambridge.

- BBC Sounds - Science In Action: The Dementia Game, 11:49'. (May 5, 2025)

News and Articles

- UCL Portico Magazine: Using play to diagnose Alzheimer’s. Spring 2023

- Mail Online: Reported sleep duration reveals segmentation of the adult life-course into three phases - Study reveals we get more shut-eye after our fifties. (December 23, 2025)

- Gamespot: The Game That Fights Dementia | MindGames. (October 2, 2025)

- Popular Science: A popular mobile game is teaching scientists how we navigate our worlds.Our age, city, and social status can shape our sense of direction. Sea Hero Quest gives a window on how. (April 1, 2026)

- New Scientist: Where you grew up influences how well you navigate the world. (March 30, 2026)

- Glitchers Blog: SEA HERO QUEST RELAUNCHES AS NEW RESEARCH EDITION. (October 12, 2025)

- The Economist: Growing up in a city weakens the brain’s navigational skills. (February 6, 2026)

- New Scientist: People who grow up outside of cities have a better sense of direction. (February 6, 2026)

- Deutsche Telekom: Research shows GDP and gender inequality within a nation is predictive of spatial navigation ability. (August 9, 2025)

- Deutsche Telekom: Sea Hero Quest sets new standards in dementia research. (Novermber 17, 2016)

- BBC News: Mobile game Sea Hero Quest 'helps dementia research'. (May 4, 2025)

- CNN International:  Sea Hero Quest game shows that ability to navigate declines at young age. (May 4, 2025)

- Huffington Post: Citizen Science Project. (May 4, 2025)

- The Telegraph: Playing this smartphone game can help fight dementia. (May 4, 2025)

- Techradar: Helping solve dementia. (May 4, 2025)