Navigating and orienting in an environment is one of the most complex cognitive activities that both human and non-human animals are able to perform. The world around us is indeed extremely rich in terms of information useful (and not!) for navigating. To succeed in orientation we must make use of several cognitive functions such as memory, attention, perception, and decision-making skills, in order to select and use relevant information. There are several strategies that we may use to orient while navigating. Some of us may prefer to look at specific environmental landmarks such as shops or buildings and derive directional information from them (i.e. turn left at the bank, turn right at the cinema, etc.). Others may rely on distances and/or a series of motor displacements while following a specific pathway without necessarily accounting for the landmarks they encounter while navigating (i.e. go straight, turn left, turn left again, turn right, etc.). In some cases, we are even able to reach certain places and get back to our original location without explicitly relying on the visual information available in the environment. This is made possible by a very primitive orientation mechanism (known as "path integration" or "dead reckoning") by which the brain is able to track distances and directions in order to update our actual location with respect to our initial starting place. This mechanism relies mainly on the continuous integration of information (vestibular and proproceptive) that tells us which direction we are moving in, at what speed, and for how long. This is the same mechanism that allows animals to get back to their nest after foraging for food.

Although the ability to orient is a very complex phenomeon, while navigating in very familiar surroundings we are able to orient and reach given target locations effortlessly. This is mainly possible due to two distinct behavioural mechanisms.

The first behavioural mechanism consists of performing habitual routes such as the route to our workplace, which we usually reach without even thinking about the environment. In this case, being extremely familiar with the pathway, we are able to refer (or not) to environmental landmarks and execute a series of actions in a sort of automatic motor sequence that does not require high attentional demands. In other words, while travelling a habitual route we are so familiar with landmarks, distances, and left/right turns required along the route that we are able to move automatically. This is similar to how we perform, after learning and practice, other complex behaviours such as riding a bike or playing a musical instrument. The memory system supporting this sort of automatic (or implicit) behaviour is referred to as procedural memory.

The second behavioural mechanism consists of reaching any target location by following any route available in the environment. In this case, we may not even be highly familiar with the pathway we are following, but still reach our target location without getting lost. The reason this occurs is the following: when we start becoming familiar with a new surrounding, we learn about selective environmental landmarks (buildings, stores, etc.) and remember their locations with respect to one another. While doing so, we create in our mind a mental representation of the environment, a sort of city-like map that will include all the landmarks’ locations we have visited so far. On this mental map, while navigating, we are able to represent our actual location and the relative locations of the landmarks we have encountered while previously exploring and becoming familiar with the environment. The use of such a mental representation will allow us to get to any landmarks’ location by starting from any place we have represented in our mental map. In other words, we are orienting by using a map analogous to when we try to orient ourselves in a new town. The difference between this personal map and a city map is that we have it in our brain, and it doesn't cost anything (other than time). This mental representation of the environment is referred to as cognitive map, and the memory system involved in this type of orientation behaviour is referred to as spatial memory.

The following is an example of how a cognitive map is usually formed. Imagine you have moved to a new town. In your new neighbourhood, you discover a nice bakery two blocks away from your house. In order to remember the location of the bakery, you may try to remember the name of the street, and at the same time you will relate the location of that bakery to your house. The day after, while going to the bakery, you notice a sign for a bank, where you later open a new account. Most likely you will relate the location of the bank to your house, and the bakery as well! (You are starting to build your cognitive map). Later on, you may also find out about a nice restaurant, where you decide to go for dinner. At this point, you relate the location of the restaurant with respect to your house, the bakery, and the bank, and your cognitive map becomes richer. Now, imagine yourself living in the same neighbourhood for years, when you will be able to get to just about anywhere, since at this stage your cognitive map of that environment has became an extremely detailed map that includes all kinds of spatial information.

Although both of these behavioural mechanisms (following habitual routes, or following any route by using your cognitive map) allow us to get to a target location, the formation and use of a cognitive map is likely to be the most reliable tool for orienting since it allows us to reach different target locations from anywhere in the environment. If, for any reason, a person is not able to form a cognitive map of the environment, or not able to make use of it correctly, then that person will tend to get lost easily (although able to perform some routine paths).

There are of course other reasons why we may get lost. For instance, someone may have difficulty remembering or recognizing landmarks. Someone else may be unable to discriminate between left and right when referring to their own body and/or the directions they infer from familiar landmarks. Others may have difficulty tracking their actual location while navigating. Still others may be unable to perform mental rotations, an important cognitive skill due to the fact that we continuously change both direction while navigating and perspective when we approach the same landmark from a different route. An impairment in any of these cognitive skills may affect the ability to orient and result in a debilitating condition impacting many aspects of an individual's daily life.