Draganski et al. (2004)

AIM

to see whether learning a new skill would have an effect on the brain

PROCEDURE

--> 24 participants, 21 girls and 3 boys were non-jugglers before the study and their brain was scanned in MRI.
--> people were allocated two conditions- jugglers and non-jugglers. Jugglers were asked to practice a three-ball cascade juggling routine and were asked to notify the researcher when they had mastered the skill.
--> Their brains were scanned again in MRI
--> They were asked to stop juggling now and then a third and final scan was done.
-->The non-juggling group served as a control for the duration of the study.
--> To analyse the MRI voxel-based morphometry was used

RESULT

--> no significant difference in the neural density (grey matter) between the two conditions.
--> significantly larger density in the mid temporal area of both hemispheres which has a role in visual memory.
--> Three months after the participants could not juggle anymore, the grey matter in brain decreased.
--> no significant difference over the period in the non-jugglers.

CONCLUSION

--> Juggling relies on visual memory, i.e. on spatial and perceptual processing than on procedural or motor memory.

EVALUATION

STRENGTH
--> Insights into brain being altered physically with the gaining of a new skill.
-->
LIMITATION
--> We don't know if participants gained another skill during this period since providing control over the activities done and skills learnt cannot be established during experiment period. This would be impossible as well as unethical.