Maguire Flashcards
What is spatial memory?
memory of how to navigate around places you know
What is cognitive mapping?
A mental map of places you know, you use your spacial memory to navigate this.
What is the knowledge?
a test London taxi need to pass. They must know bout 37,000 pieces of information.
What is the hippocampus?
Has a major role in memory and spatial navigation. We have one in each hemisphere.
What is plasticity?
the brains natural ability to change as a result of a experience. It builds new neural and synapse pathways.
what was the aim of Maguire’s study?
To investigate the differences between the hippocampi of London taxi drivers and non-taxi drivers.
Describe the non taxi driver participants
control group
50 non-taxi drivers
16 were used to compare (matched pairs)
Male and right handed
describe the taxi drivers participants
16 right handed male taxi drivers 32 to 62 year olds mean age of 44 years all had healthy medical profiles All had to have a licence for 1 and a half years (up to 42 years)
what did all participant have?
MRI scans
pixel counting
Voxel based morphology
What is an MRI scan?
Strong magnetic field and radio waves create pictures of tissues organs and other structures inside your body.
What is pixel counting?
counting the pixels in the MRI scan images.
What is a pixel?
a 2D measurement of an area.
How many slices of the brain were made?
26 slices
How many were of the hippocampus?
24 slices
What were the remaining 2 slices of?
The whole brain
How is the study reliable?
Had a blind experimenter
All participants had an MRI scan , which is standardized
What is voxel based morphology?
Measures volume of areas of the brain
Measures density of grey matter in the brain
Provides 3D measurements
What were the experiment IVs?
taxi drivers and non-taxi drivers
What correlation was conducted?
A correlation was conducted to investigate if there was a relationship between time spent as a taxi driver and the volume of the hippocampi
What were the correlation IVs?
time spent as a taxi driver
Volume of the hippocampus
What was the dependant variable?
pixel counting and VBM
What was the research method?
Quasi-naturally already taxi-drivers
what was the research design?
Matched pairs on age
what are four findings?
- Increased volume found in posterior hippocampi of taxi drivers compared to non taxi drivers.
- more grey matter found in posterior hippocampi of taxi drivers
- No difference in overall volume of hippocampi.
- positive correlation was found only in right posterior hippocampi
What is grey matter?
Lies on the surface of the brain. Dense in neural cell bodies and associated with higher order thinking.
What is white matter?
neural connections in the brain
How is Maguire’s study valid?
Participants cannot lie about the amount of grey matter they have.
High in ecological validity as taxi driving is a real career
What are 3 conclusions that can be drawn from this study?
That the structure of the brain changes in response to environmental demand.
That the mental map of the city of London is stored in the posterior hippocampi in taxi drivers
That normal activity can induce changes in the structure of the brain and that this has many implications for rehabilitation after brain injury
