Maguire (2000): biological
Background
Investigating neuroplasticity in the hippocampus suggests the difference in hippocampus will change and has provided evidence from animals and birds, musicians and non-musicians.
Aim
To investigate the differences in the volume of the hippocampus in London taxi drivers compared to a control group. London taxi drivers must complete the 'knowledge test' before being able to become a taxi driver.
Sample
16 right handed male London taxi drivers 32-62 years old, mean 14.6 years of training.
Control group- 50 right handed males 32-62 years old. All had MRI scan previous to the study.
Method
Variables
Controlled quasi experiment
Design
Procedure
Results
Conclusions
Taxi drivers had MRI scans to see the structure of their brains, these were compared to the non-taxi drivers. One measurement VBM was used to measure the grey matter volume in an area of the brain.
IV: taxi drivers/ non-taxi drivers
DV: measuring hippocampus differences and whether the differences increased with time
Controls
Independent measures
Brain scanning techniques, gender, health and age were matched
The second measurement was pixel counting and was carried out on the taxi drivers and 16 age matched from the control group. This was done by one person experienced in this technique and bind to particpants.
This is a 20 measurement of an area which measures how big the area is on the scan picture. They measured the front, back and the hippocampus.
Taxi drivers had an increase in grey matter in 2 areas of the brain ( left and right hippocampus). The VBM confirmed a structural difference between the two groups, in the hippocampus. No difference in the overall volume of the hippocampus between taxi drivers and non-taxi drivers.
The data presented provided evidence of regionally specific structural differences between the hippocampi of London taxi drivers and the control group.