Scientists believe they've found the part of the brain that acts as an "internal compass" and makes some people better at navigating than others.
Researchers from University College London (UCL) found "homing" signals in the brain that help determine a person's ability to work out which way they need to go in relation to the direction they are facing.
It builds on findings by UCL professor John O'Keefe and married couple May-Britt and Edvard Moser from Norway, who in October jointly won the Nobel prize in physiology or medicine for discovering the brain's "inner GPS" - cells which map the environment.
Now a study of 16 people carrying out a simple navigational test on a computer found the entorhinal region, which signals the direction someone is facing, also tells them which way they should face to get to another destination.
And, as the study shows, the signals varied from person to person.
The stronger they are the better that person should be at navigating
Hugo Spiers from UCL's experimental psychology department led the study.
"This type of 'homing signal' has been thought to exist for many years, but until now it has remained purely speculation," he said.
"In this simple test, we were looking to see which areas of the brain were active when participants were considering different directions.
"We were surprised to see that the strength and consistency of brain signals from the entorhinal region noticeably influenced people's performance in such a basic task."
The entorhinal region is also among the first to be affected by Alzheimer's disease, according to the scientists, who hope to develop a test that could aid early diagnosis.
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