Navigation-Related Structural Change in the Hippocampi of Taxi Drivers

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 97; no. 8; pp. 4398 - 4403
• Main Authors: Maguire, Eleanor A., Gadian, David G., Johnsrude, Ingrid S., Good, Catriona D., Ashburner, John, Richard S. J. Frackowiak, Frith, Christopher D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 11.04.2000; National Acad Sciences; National Academy of Sciences; The National Academy of Sciences
• Subjects: Adult; Automobile Driving; Biological Sciences; Brain; Correlations; Gray matter; Hippocampus; Hippocampus - anatomy & histology; Humans; Image analysis; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Memory; Middle Aged; Navigation; Neurology; Neuroscience; Orientation - physiology; Psychology; Taxi drivers; Taxicabs; Volume

Structural MRIs of the brains of humans with extensive navigation experience, licensed London taxi drivers, were analyzed and compared with those of control subjects who did not drive taxis. The posterior hippocampi of taxi drivers were significantly larger relative to those of control subjects. A m...