Close Banner

Integrative Health

The Hidden Cost of Convenience On Your Memory, From An Expert

Author: Ava Durgin

April 10, 2026

Assistant Health Editor

By Ava Durgin

Assistant Health Editor

Ava Durgin is the former Assistant Health Editor at mindbodygreen. She holds a B.A. in Global Health and Psychology from Duke University.

Image by Majid Fotuhi, M.D. at Revitalize

April 10, 2026

You probably drove somewhere last week and let your phone tell you every turn. You texted the number instead of dialing it from memory. You checked your calendar app to recall what time your appointment was, even though you'd seen it twice that morning. None of it seemed important. That’s exactly the problem. We are slowly letting devices do the thinking for us.

Ditch your phone & start challenging your brain

At mindbodygreen's Revitalize, neurologist Majid Fotuhi, M.D., shared a point that sounds almost too simple. He’s spent his career studying memory, brain health, and the reversibility of cognitive decline. And what he told the audience might surprise you: the part of your brain most at risk for Alzheimer’s can actually get stronger in adulthood, if you give it a workout.

He’s talking about the hippocampus, a small, paired area tucked deep in your brain. "Roughly the size of your thumb," he said, one on each side. When it shrinks, your memory shrinks with it. That’s why Alzheimer’s often starts small, showing up as forgotten names, misplaced keys, or losing your way in familiar places.

But the hippocampus isn’t fragile. It’s built to respond—to grow and strengthen when you challenge it.

A study reframes how we think about memory

Fotuhi described a now-famous line of research that turned assumptions about the adult brain upside down. London cab drivers, before GPS, had to pass an exam called "the Knowledge," a test so demanding it took four years to prepare for and required candidates to memorize the names, locations, and directions of 10,000 streets. About half the people who attempted it failed.

Researchers MRI'd a group of candidates at the start of the program and again at the end. What they found was pretty remarkable. Those who passed the exam and had studied intensively came out of the process with measurably larger hippocampi. Those who failed and hadn't studied enough showed no change at all.

"It's like a muscle," Fotuhi said. "The more you use it, the stronger it gets." And the larger the hippocampus, the research suggests, the lower the risk of developing Alzheimer's.

RELATED READ: Cognitive Decline Is Not Inevitable — These Things Matter Most

Get memorizing

Fotuhi doesn’t just talk about the science. He lives it. “How many people don’t use GPS when they drive?” he asked the audience. Most of us rely on it every day, but for most of human history, finding your way was a real mental workout. You read landmarks, built mental maps, and kept routes in your head. Letting a device do it for you doesn’t just make driving easier; it’s skipping a step your hippocampus could have exercised.

Fotuhi deliberately minimizes GPS whenever he can. He memorizes phone numbers. He even keeps his credit card numbers in his head. These aren’t extreme habits or “brain hacks.” They’re small, intentional ways to keep his memory active, little nudges that add up over time.

The takeaway

This isn’t about ditching your phone. It’s about noticing how often you let convenience do the thinking for you. Every shortcut your brain skips might seem small, but over the years and decades, it adds up.

The strength of your hippocampus at seventy depends a lot on how much you challenged it at forty-five. Every now and then, choose to remember for yourself, even if it’s just a phone number, a route, or a simple fact. Those little moments are workouts for your brain.