In a surprising revelation, a 2024 study highlights that taxi and ambulance drivers have among the lowest mortality rates from Alzheimer’s disease compared to nearly every other profession.

This unexpected finding emerged from an extensive examination of death certificates, analyzing nearly 9 million records across the United States. The study, published in the BMJ, sheds light on intriguing occupational health trends.

Experts suggest that the mental agility required for tasks like navigation and map interpretation might play a critical role. The cognitive engagement involved in real-time driving and decision-making could potentially offer protective benefits for the brain.

Focusing on the data from January 2020 to December 2022, researchers noted that out of 443 distinct occupations, taxi and ambulance drivers had the least incidence of Alzheimer’s mortality, a condition impacting 7 million Americans.

Even after adjusting for factors like age, gender, race, ethnicity, and educational background, findings revealed approximately 1 in 100 taxi and ambulance drivers succumbed to Alzheimer’s, contrasting with every 1 in 60 individuals overall.

This pattern did not extend to other driving jobs, however, leading researchers to conclude that the key to reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s was not driving itself but continuous real-time navigation: the constant work of locating yourself in space, tracking a destination and updating a mental map as conditions change. 

Drivers whose jobs relied on fixed or predetermined routes, like bus drivers and aircraft pilots, didn’t seem to experience a similar advantage.

Researchers believe the association between navigation-heavy work and lower Alzheimer’s risk centers on the hippocampus, a part of the brain that governs memory and spatial navigation. 

It’s one of the first brain regions that Alzheimer’s damages: Problems with spatial navigation and orientation are among the earliest signs of the disease, sometimes surfacing before obvious memory loss.

In one landmark 2000 study, neuroscientists compared the brains of licensed London taxi drivers with those of people who did not drive cabs. 

Their findings provided the first evidence via structural imaging that regions of the adult brain can measurably change under sustained navigational demand. 

To earn a license, London cab drivers must memorize more than 25,000 streets within a 6-mile radius of Charing Cross, a challenge known as ‘The Knowledge’ that takes three to four years.

The researchers found that London taxi drivers had measurably more gray matter in the posterior hippocampus, a brain area tied to storing large-scale spatial maps. 

That volume tracked with experience – the longer someone had driven, the larger that part of the brain. 

The change was built through practice, not inherited. While people who are good at navigation might gravitate to this kind of job, the job itself does have an impact on the brain.

Together, these two studies make a coherent case. Work that intensively exercises the hippocampus may reshape it, and that reshaping may protect against one of the most feared diseases of aging.

Cartographers, urban planners and geospatial analysts spend their working days in sustained spatial reasoning. 

A geographic information system (GIS) specialist might use a computer to overlap population data on flood exposure maps to find who is at risk, or read satellite imagery to map land cover after a wildfire. 

Researchers juggle several layers of data, coordinate systems and scales at once.

Does spatial reasoning through a screen engage the hippocampus the way moving through a real city does?

While a taxi driver navigates from inside the scene at street level, GIS researchers picture space from above as a map – what cognitive scientists call allocentric reasoning. 

However, these two perspectives overlap in the brain. The hippocampus also builds maps from outside viewpoints, not just from a navigator’s own position.

Research on cognitive maps points toward the same conclusion as the study on taxi drivers. 

In 2023, researchers ran a machine learning model on more than 22,500 people in a national dataset and were able to predict which zip codes had higher rates of Alzheimer’s with 84 percent accuracy based on how complex the environment was. 

Those living in spatially complex surroundings – the kind that force active map building, such as dense street networks with numerous intersections, diverse points of interest and landmarks, and multiple path options – were less likely to develop Alzheimer’s.

A follow-up study tied geospatial complexity in one’s environment to greater volume in the brain’s spatial navigation regions. 

The researchers hypothesized that routinely building cognitive maps exercises the very circuitry that Alzheimer’s attacks first. Repeatedly engaging the cognitive systems involved in spatial navigation could help delay symptoms of disease.

However, these two studies focus on where people live, not the work people do. Whether spatial reasoning through a screen exercises the same circuitry as real-life city navigation remains untested.

The implications of whether sustained spatial reasoning protects the brain reach beyond mapmakers and cab drivers. Studies have repeatedly found a link between mentally complex occupations and delayed cognitive decline and lower dementia risk, even after accounting for education.

Research on cognitive reserve – the brain’s capacity to continue functioning despite disease – can help explain why two people with a similar disease burden can show markedly different levels of cognitive impairment. 

If demanding spatial thinking protects the brain, then how societies design schooling, professional training and retirement all become questions of brain health.

Spatial reasoning can be trained, and training opportunities are already widespread. GIS and remote sensing instruction are available through geography, engineering, public health and environmental science programs worldwide.

If sustained engagement with spatial reasoning can help the brain strengthen the circuitry that Alzheimer’s attacks first, its value reaches well beyond the technical skills it builds.

This article is adapted from The Conversation, a nonprofit news organization dedicated to sharing the knowledge of experts. It was written by Hatim Sharif, a professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at The University of Texas at San Antonio. It was edited by Alexa Lardieri, the US health editor at Daily Mail. 

In a heartbreaking incident in Florida, a father who had just escorted his daughter to her first day at elementary school lost his life. The tragedy occurred as he attempted to defuse a violent altercation between a man and a woman, according to police and local reports.

Fifty-six-year-old Daryl Hill, who resided near Apopka, is now mourned by his wife, two adult children, and a younger daughter, merely 10 years old. The incident shook the community Tuesday morning near Wolf Lake Elementary School, as noted by FOX 35 Orlando.

“He had the biggest heart in the entire world,” lamented Damon Hill, Daryl’s son, speaking to the station. “He cherished everyone… His compassion was boundless, and he never judged others.”

The sequence of events began with witnesses observing a dispute between a man and a woman inside a vehicle, which subsequently crashed, escalating the conflict outside, as detailed by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.

“Witnessing that altercation, a Good Samaritan attempted to intervene and was shot. That man, 56-year-old Daryl Alexander Hill, later died at the hospital,” the sheriff’s office said.

“Mr. Hill was simply trying to help someone who appeared to be in distress when he was shot by 26-year-old Raul Lionel Vazquez. Vazquez was arrested on a charge of Second-Degree Murder,” it added.

Suzanne Hill, Daryl’s wife, told Spectrum News 13 that her husband was a “friend, family and stranger: he cared for everybody and helped everybody and always stepped in, which I think is ultimately what took his life.”

Police said the shooting happened at Plymouth Sorrento and West Ponkan roads in Apopka, which is down the road from the elementary school.

Before Hill was shot, Vazquez and a woman, Kaidy Honaker, were seen by multiple witnesses fighting inside their white Chevy Silverado pickup truck when it crashed into a black Lexus, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by News Media. The two continued their heated altercation on the sidewalk.

Vazquez, who was seen shirtless and wearing no shoes, got in Honaker’s face and appeared to be yelling and pointing at her, the affidavit said.

Two witnesses said they saw Hill riding a bicycle nearby and told authorities that he got involved in the argument, which led to Vazquez and Hill tackling each other into the bushes, per the affidavit.

According to the affidavit, Honaker joined the fight as well, later saying she did so to pull Hill off Vazquez.

After the fight in the bushes, Hill began running away from Vazquez and Honaker, yelling “help” with his hands in the air, the affidavit said.

Vazquez retrieved what was later determined to be a shotgun from his pickup truck and fired one round, hitting Hill and causing him to fall to the ground, according to the affidavit.

In an interview with investigators, Vazquez offered “many different accounts” of what happened but said that Hill “was fighting him and getting the better of him,” according to the affidavit.

At the time of the shooting, Vazquez was out on bond for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

FOX 35 reported that a judge has since revoked that bond and ordered him held without bond in that case and for the second-degree murder charge.

In a dramatic turn of events, a former Ukrainian submarine commander who had defected to Russia met a violent end on Thursday. According to officials, his demise came at the hands of a Russian woman who, acting on directives from Kyiv, used a bomb concealed within a trash bin to execute the attack.

The woman, aged 32, remains unnamed but is accused of plotting the assassination under the guidance of Ukraine’s intelligence network, targeting Robert Shageev, a significant figure within the Kremlin’s Black Sea Fleet, as per statements from Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB).

Shageev, originally a Ukrainian deserter who sided with Russia post-Crimea annexation in 2014, was caught off guard while strolling in Sevastopol. It was around 10 a.m. when the explosion from a nearby trash bin disrupted the morning calm, as reported by both Ukrainian and Russian media outlets.

The explosion’s intensity was such that it initially alarmed local residents, mistakenly leading them to believe it was another drone attack, akin to those frequently tormenting Russian troops in the region. This detail was highlighted by Russian Telegram channels with ties to security forces.

In a swift response, authorities apprehended the suspect, who, according to Russian claims, has admitted to orchestrating Shageev’s assassination.

“Investigators established that she acted on instructions from Ukrainian special services and showed no remorse,” Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Kremlin-installed governor of Sevastopol, said in a statement.

Shageev was wanted by Ukraine for high treason over his actions as the acting commander of the Ukrainian vessel Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv’s only submarine during the 2014 Russian invasion of Crimea.

During the invasion, Shageev hailed that his unit would hold out until the end, only for the commander to give up the submarine and defect to the Russian military.

Shageev has been previously accused of serving in Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with his fleet allegedly among those that fired submarine-launched missile attacks during the war.

Ukraine has been previously accused of carrying out assassinations in Russia and abroad against Moscow officials and defectors.

The attack that killed Shageev coincided with a seperate incident in Sevastopol overnight that saw five Russian emergency service workers killed as they tried to dispose of a Ukrainian bomb, Razvozhayev said.

“Our guys were inspecting the area after a Ukrainian attack. An enemy munition detonated,” he added.

Kelly Ripa recently disclosed a surprising personal revelation: an ordinary habit led her to endure ‘painful’ gum surgery.

The TV personality, known for her role as co-host on “Live with Kelly and Mark,” took a hiatus from the show this past July. Her husband and co-host, Mark Consuelos, revealed at that time that Kelly underwent gum graft surgery to address her receding gums.

Ripa has now provided further insight into what necessitated the surgical procedure.

On the latest episode of her podcast, “Let’s Talk Off Camera,” recorded prior to her surgery, Ripa revealed that the condition resulted from an unlikely source—excessive teeth brushing.

“I’m an over-brusher,” she confessed to guest co-host Michelle Buteau. “I brush my teeth too much. It’s a good-bad habit,” she explained.

‘But I’ve caused gum recession down here specifically, and so they have gotta re-gum my gums.’

When Buteau said the procedure ‘sounded painful,’ Ripa admitted: ‘It is. [And I won’t be] allowed to talk for ten days [afterwards].’ 

Ripa also confessed that she was supposed to get the surgery five years ago but had been putting it off.

‘But now, the doctor was like, “Now, you don’t have the luxury of time,”‘ she added.

According to My Cleveland Clinic, gum graft surgery ‘covers exposed teeth roots and adds volume to your gum line, improving overall oral health.’

The site adds that receding gums are often a result of gum disease, but people can also be genetically prone to thinning gums. 

‘You can also develop gum recession if you brush too aggressively,’ My Cleveland Clinic notes.

‘Recovery usually takes one week to two weeks, but it may take longer.’

On July 27, Consuelos gave an update on Ripa’s health while addressing her absence on the show. 

‘She’s doing well. She’s doing great,’ the Fallen Angels thespian said smiling. ‘She’s not allowed to talk.’ 

‘Wow, that’s got to be the hardest thing that she’s ever done,’ Kevin Jonas, who was a guest at the time, responded.

Consuelos continued: ‘She’s such a great conversationalist, but I’m trying to [help] her [to] follow the rules, follow the directions.

‘She has to eat soft food, you can’t suck out of a straw and you can’t examine it, which means pulling down the lip.’ 

‘It’s painful,’ Consuelos then told the audience. ‘But she famously doesn’t feel pain. 

‘When she goes to the dentist, she doesn’t really use the Novocaine. But this one hurts. So, I know it’s bad.’

The Daily Mail reached out to Ripa’s rep for comment at the time, who said: ‘Kelly is taking some time off and we have awesome co-hosts.’ 

Ripa has not been back on the show since, ultimately missing two weeks before the show started a hiatus for the summer. She is set to return in September when season 39 premieres.

LOS ANGELES — After more than a decade and a half, “Camp Rock,” the beloved Disney Channel series, is making a highly-anticipated comeback with “Camp Rock 3.” This latest installment welcomes back superstar Demi Lovato, not only appearing as a star but also stepping into the role of executive producer. Additionally, the Jonas Brothers are contributing their expertise as executive producers while making guest appearances in the film.

In “Camp Rock 3,” a group of gifted young musicians will vie for the opportunity of a lifetime: the chance to open for Connect 3, a fictional band portrayed by the Jonas Brothers, on their highly anticipated, sold-out tour.

On The Red Carpet had the opportunity to chat with the film’s dynamic leads, Liamani Segura, known for “Descendants: Wicked Wonderland,” and Malachi Barton, recognized from projects like “ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires” and “Coven Academy.” They discussed their excitement about joining Disney franchises, receiving valuable guidance from past stars, and cherishing their time in the spotlight.

Reflecting on the fresh faces at Camp Rock, Segura expressed enthusiasm, saying, “I think they’re all just so excited to show the world what they have, what they have to offer, and their voices, you know, everyone has their own thing.”

Segura takes on the role of Sage, a determined and talented vocalist, while Barton plays Fletch, the enigmatic bad boy. Both actors shared insights into how their new roles provide a refreshing departure from their earlier Disney Channel experiences.

“The worlds that we have been in, the big franchises that we’ve been in, have been fantasy worlds. And I think being able to step into something that’s so real, so grounded, and so gritty, it’s like, it is really, really fun,” Barton said.

Segura, who is just coming off of the excitement surrounding “Descendants: Wicked Wonderland,” explained further, “You’ve got to dig deeper into the character, you know? And not that we didn’t dig deep into, you know, into Victor and Pink (their characters from “ZOMBIES” and “Descendants,” respectively), but like, genuinely, I feel like with Sage and Fletch, I really wanted to understand where they were both coming from to step into the characters.”

She also attributes the ability to dig deeper into the characters to stepping onto a set that felt more grounded in reality, compared to the previous, fantastical sets of “Descendants.”

“I mean, with ‘Descendants,’ we’re dealing with practical sets where like the chessboard is like humongous… It was pretty crazy, and it feels like you’re in an entirely different world.”

Although the two are familiar with the whole Disney Channel franchise game, they still picked up some advice from Lovato and the Jonas Brothers.

“I remember the first day that I met her,” Segura says about Lovato. “She basically just told me, ‘Take it all in. You’re never going to be 17 again on this amazing set of ‘Camp Rock,’ and you just have to live in the moment.'”

Barton recalled spending time with the Jonas Brothers during production.

“One of my first interactions and memories with them was throwing a football around with them on set, which was so much fun. And I think that it’s those moments that show you that they’re… naturally so good at this, but they don’t take it too seriously,” Barton said.

The two seem like they’re taking those lessons to heart.

Segura told us, “I’m in a really good spot where we’re on set, and it doesn’t feel like work at all. I’m literally just with my best friends filming a movie. We’re all so young, and we’re having a good time. You’re really gonna be able to see that on the screen.”

“Camp Rock 3” premieres Aug. 13 on Disney Channel and begins streaming the next day on Disney+.

The Walt Disney Company is the parent company of Disney Channel, Disney+ and this ABC station.