The knowledge: London cabbies are famous for knowing their way around
Taxi drivers 'have brain sat-nav'
Scientists have uncovered evidence for an inbuilt "sat-nav" system in the brains of London taxi drivers.
They used magnetic scanners to explore the brain activity of taxi drivers as they navigated their way through a virtual simulation of London's streets.
Different brain regions were activated as they considered route options, spotted familiar landmarks or thought about their customers.
The research was presented at this week's BA Science Festival.
Earlier studies had shown that taxi drivers have a larger hippocampus - a region of the brain that plays an important role in navigation.
Their brains even "grow on the job" as they build up detailed information needed to find their way around London's labyrinth of streets - information famously referred to as "The Knowledge".
"We were keen to go beyond brain structure - and see what activity is going on inside the brains of taxi drivers while they are doing their job," said Dr Hugo Spiers from University College London.
rest of article:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7613621.stm
1 comment:
"brain sat-nav" interesting, i think its neat how they did the research with the magnetic scanners.
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