B - Maguire

Question 1

Aim

Answer 1

to examine the direct effect of spatial experience on brain structure.

Question 2

Background

Answer 2

• Research has shown increased hippocampal volume relative to brain and body size in small mammals and birds who show behaviour requiring spatial memory e.g. food storing.
• In some species, hippocampal volumes enlarge specifically during seasons when spatial ability is greatest.
• Research has also shown that there are differences in the structure of healthy human brains e.g. between males and females, musicians and non-musicians.
• However past research has not shown:
  (i) Whether differences in brain structure is susceptible to plastic change in response to environmental stimulation.
  (ii) The precise role of the hippocampus in humans.
  (iii) Whether the human brain responds to experiences requiring spatial memory in the same way as smaller mammals and birds.
• Maguire therefore aimed to show that the hippocampus in the human brain is the structure associated with spatial memory and navigation.
• Her sample of London taxi drivers was ideal because they have to acquire extensive spatial and navigational information (pass The Knowledge) on the city of London to gain their taxi driving licence.
• Her use of a group of taxi drivers with a wide range of navigational experience allowed her to examine the direct effect of spatial experience on brain structure.

Question 3

Method

Answer 3

• This was a quasi/natural experiment because the independent variable (IV) – whether the participant was a London taxi driver or a person who did not drive taxis – was naturally varying and so could not be manipulated or controlled by the researchers. The dependent variable (DV) was the volume of the hippocampi including their anterior, body and posterior regions; measured by analysing MRI scans of participants’ brain using the two techniques of VBM and pixel counting.
• The study used an independent measures, matched participants design.

Question 4

Sample

Answer 4

• The experimental group of 16 taxi drivers were all healthy, right-handed, male London taxi drivers, mean age 44 years (range 32-62 years), mean time as a licensed London taxi driver (passed The Knowledge) 14.3 years (range 1.5-42 years).
• The control group who did not drive taxis (50 for the VBM analysis, 16 for the pixel counting) were matched for health, handedness, sex, mean age and age range.

Question 5

Procedure

Answer 5

• The scans of the control group were selected from the structural MRI scan data base at the same unit where the taxi drivers were scanned.
• The MRI scans of all participants were analysed using:
  (i) VBM (voxel-based morphometry) which is an automatic procedure that ‘normalises’ the scans to a template to eliminate overall brain size as a variable and then identifies differences in grey matter density in different regions of the brain. The brains of the 16 taxi drivers were compared to those of 50 non-taxi drivers to see if there were any differences in structure.
  (ii) Pixel counting compared the volume of anterior, body and posterior cross-sections of the taxi drivers’ hippocampi with those of a previously age, gender and handedness-matched sample of 16 controls taken from the 50 used in the
  VBM analysis. The images were analysed by one person experienced in the technique and blinded to whether the scan was of a taxi driver or a control and the VBM findings. This procedure allowed the total hippocampal volume to be calculated.

Question 6

Results

Answer 6

• VBM analysis showed no significant differences between the brains of the two groups except:
  (i) Taxi drivers had significantly increased grey matter volume in the right and left posterior hippocampi compared to controls.
  (ii) In the controls there was a relatively greater grey matter volume in the right and left anterior hippocampi compared to taxi drivers.
• Pixel counting showed that although there was no significant difference in overall volume of the hippocampi between the two groups:
  (i) Taxi drivers had a significantly greater posterior hippocampal volume than controls.
  (ii) Controls had a significantly greater anterior right hippocampal volume than the taxi drivers.
  (iii) A significantly greater hippocampal body volume on the right than the left in both the taxi drivers and the Controls.

Question 7

Conclusions

Answer 7

• There are regionally specific structural differences between the hippocampi of licensed London taxi drivers compared to those who do not drive London taxis.
• The professional dependence on navigational skills in licensed London taxi drivers is associated with a relative redistribution of grey matter in the hippocampus.
• It can be suggested that the changes in the arrangement of hippocampal grey matter are acquired i.e. due to nurture.
• Findings also indicate the possibility of local plasticity in the structure of a normal human brain which allows it to adapt in response to prolonged environmental stimuli.