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What did Maguire find in a study of taxi drivers?

In her earliest studies, Maguire discovered that London taxi drivers had more gray matter in their posterior hippocampi than people who were similar in age, education and intelligence, but who did not drive taxis. In other words, taxi drivers had plumper memory centers than their peers.

What was found in the study performed on London taxi cab drivers?

hippocampus
When London cab drivers successfully learn a mental atlas of London’s spaghetti streets, the activity causes structural changes in the brain, affects memory and creates a greater volume of nerve cells in the brain’s hippocampus.

What was the Maguire study?

What was the aim of Maguire et al’s study? To investigate whether changes (plasticity) could be detected in the brains of London taxi drivers and to further investigate the functions of the hippocampus in spatial memory.

What research method did Maguire use for her study of brain plasticity in taxi drivers *?

MRI scans
Method: Structural MRI scans were obtained.

Is Maguire 2000 a quasi experiment?

High controls – use scanning procedure + carefully selected sample — removed extraneous variables (confidence in causal relationship). Quasi experiment – sample matched to eliminate PPT variables. Use of scanning technique – costly and time consuming — harder to replicate.

Is Maguire a quasi experiment?

Key Study: A comparison of hippocampal volumes in bus and taxi drivers in London (Maguire, 2006) This quasi-experiment compared MRI scans of experienced London taxi drivers to London bus drivers. MRI scans allow researchers to see the shape and structure of the brain.

What is the posterior hippocampus used for?

The posterior hippocampus is preferentially connected to the retrosplenial and posterior parietal cortices and is thought to be involved principally in cognitive and spatial processing.

What year was the Maguire study?

Bus Drivers (Maguire, 2006) Understanding how the brain can grow and change as a result of our environment and experiences is an exciting and important new field in psychology.

Who conducted the Maguire study?

Eleanor Maguire

Eleanor Maguire FRS FMedSci FBA MRIA
Institutions University College London Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging
Thesis Real-world spatial memory following temporal-lobe surgery in humans (1994)
Doctoral students Demis Hassabis
Website iris.ucl.ac.uk/iris/browse/profile?upi=EMAGU26

Is Maguire a case study?

What was the aim of this study? – To investigate the differences in the brain, especially the hippocampus in London Taxi Drivers and to establish whether compared to the controls, the differences in the hippocampal volume would be observed.

Why do London taxi drivers have larger Hippocampuses?

Taxi drivers given brain scans by scientists at University College London had a larger hippocampus compared with other people. This is a part of the brain associated with navigation in birds and animals. She said: “The hippocampus has changed its structure to accommodate their huge amount of navigating experience.”

Why are taxi drivers a good study group?

Taxi drivers undergo extensive training, known as ‘The Knowledge’ and therefore make an ideal group for the study of spatial navigation. Aim: To examine whether structural changes could be detected in the brain of people with extensive experience of spatial navigation.

How are taxi drivers trained to work in London?

The taxi drivers had all been through “the training”, which involves learning about 25,000 streets in London, thousands of landmarks and learning how to navigate through London without the use of satnavs or maps. In short, they are required to develop their visuo-spatial skills to an incredible degree.

What is the role of the hippocampus in taxi drivers?

Navigation-related structural change in the hippocampi of taxi drivers. Background information: According to Maguire, the role of the hippocampus is to facilitate spatial memory, in the form of navigation.

Where is grey matter found in taxi drivers?

The mean age did not differ between the two groups. Results: 1) Increased grey matter was found in the brains of taxi drivers compared with controls in two brain regions, the right and left hippocampi. The increased volume was found in the posterior (rear) hippocampus.