MAGUIRE Flashcards
Aim
To investigate the differences in the hippocampi of London taxi drivers compared to controls
To investigate the functions of the hippocampus in spatial memory
Participants
16 male London taxi drivers all right handed between 32&62
Licensed for at least 18 months all passed the knowledge
Procedure
Compared 16 taxi drivers brain scans from control group
Data collected through pixel counting and VBM to analyse MRI
Control group
50 right handed males . 32-62 years
What did pixel counting analysis of results show
No differerenve in overall volume of hippocampus between taxi drivers and control group
Anterior hippocampus
Non taxi had higher hippocampul volume in right than left
Hippocampus body
Taxi drivers showed no difference in overall volume in body compared to control
Posterior hippocampus
Taxi drives had general higher volume in their posterior hippocampus than non taxi drivers
Results
VBM showed increased grey matter volume in taxi drivers ‘ brains compared to control brains in both sides of the posterior hippocampus
Length of time as taxi driver correlated positively with volume in posterior
Conclusions
The study showed regional differences between the hippocampi of London taxi drivers and the control group .
Cause and effect
Increased exposure to an environment stimulus can lead to changes in the brains structure
Ethics
No deception
Ethics
No deception
Informed consent
Withdraw
Psychology as a science
Highly controlled which fulfills scientific criteria. In addition the data was gathered using an MRI scanner and this objective method of measurement also means the study can be highly scientific
Usefulness debate
Furthers our understanding of how the brain works and provides evidence on the plasticity of it . Rehabilitation of individuals who have suffered from brain damage might be assisted
