Brain changes seen in cabbies

Emmeline · #1 by **Emmeline** » Dec 08, 2011 8:37 pm

The structure of a London taxi driver's brain changes during the gruelling process of learning the quickest way around the capital, scans reveal.

Dozens of trainee drivers had MRI scans before and after they acquired "The Knowledge", memorising hundreds of journeys and street names.

The University College London team, writing in Current Biology, found parts of brain linked to memory grew bigger.

They said it proved the brain could adapt to new tasks, even in adulthood.

More here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16086233

Blackadder · #2 by **Blackadder** » Dec 08, 2011 9:02 pm

Interestingly a side effect of the brain change seems to be an irrational fear of going south of the River Thames after 9pm.

mraltair · #3 by **mraltair** » Dec 08, 2011 9:08 pm

Blackadder wrote:Interestingly a side effect of the brain change seems to be an irrational fear of going south of the River Thames after 9pm.

It's rational to avoid doing that at any time of day.

As would be expected, they were better at memory tasks involving London landmarks than the non-cabbies, but this advantage appeared to come at a price, as the non-cabbies outperformed them in other memory tasks, such as recalling complex visual information.

Does this mean we just reshuffle our memory to be better at one thing but worse at others? :think:

Cause I'd stick with the jack of all trades route.

ramseyoptom · #4 by **ramseyoptom** » Dec 08, 2011 9:19 pm

Did they say anything about the cabbies propensity to pontificate on any subject despite the fares' total disinterest?

I wonder if this is related to acquiring 'the knowledge'?

endless psych · #5 by **endless psych** » Dec 23, 2011 11:45 pm

I'm almost certain this story has appeared before. Though perhaps that was just someone proposing the theory in the first place.

I can't remember clearly.

I am also a terrible taxi driver