Maguire et al. (2000)

Maguire et al. (2000)

1. Background

   • Black Cab Drivers - London
     • have to have a detailed knowledge of the 25,000 streets within a 6 mile radius of Charing Cross
     • More general knowledge on the major routes throughout the rest of London
     • Written test on 80 routes, other 240 tested by interview
   • Hippocampus
     • Stores and processes memories
     • Helps find memories
     • Affects memories

2. Sample

   • 16 licensed taxi drivers
     • Mean age 44
     • Right handed
     • Range 32-62
       • The range of ages of the taxi drivers
     • Mean time as a taxi driver 14.3 yrs
       • Range 1.5-42 yrs
     • They all had a healthy general medical, neurological and psychiatric profiles
   • 50 control participants
     • No females
     • Below 32 and above 62 were excluded
     • Left handed males were excluded
     • Those with health problems were excluded

3. Method/Procedure

   • Quasi/natural
   • MRI Scans
     • VBM - Voxel Based morphology
       • 3D
     • Pixel-Counting
       • 2D

4. Results

   • Posterior right and left bigger in cab drivers
   • More volume in anterior in controls than in cab drivers
   • Volume of posterior showed positive correlation with the length of time spent as a taxi driver
     • Significant in right posterior
   • Volume in anterior showed negative