Maguire et al. (2000) - Spacial navigation in Taxi-drivers

What is the aim of this study?

To demonstrate that the hippocampus is the region of the brain associated with spatial memory and navigation

What experimental design was used in this study?

Quasi experiment (IV is naturally occurring)

What was the IV?

Whether the participants were taxi drivers or not

What was the DV?

Grey matter volume and density in the Hippocampus

Who were the participants?

Taxi drivers: 16 right handed men, aged 32-62, licensed for at least 1.5 years, generally healthy

Non- taxi drivers (control group): 50 right handed men, aged 32-62, no health problems

What was the procedure?

Brains were scanned using MRI scanner

Image analysis methods:

1. VBM (Voxel-based morphometry) identifed grey matter density in MRI scans

2. Pixel counting - 16 of each group, grey matter volume identified by a single person, blind to patients identity

What are the results?

VBM: Taxi drivers had greater grey matter volume in the right and left posterior, whereas non-taxi drivers had more grey matter in the anterior hippocampus

Pixel counting: non-taxi drivers had greater right hippocampal volume,whereas taxi drivers had greater posterior hippocampal volume

The length of time spent as a taxi driver correlated negatively with the volume of the anterior hippocampus

What conclusions can we make?

Regionally specific structural differences between the hippocampi of licensed London taxi drivers and those of control participants