Created through Google's NotebookLM. This podcast is made for IB Psychology students studying the Biological Approach to understanding human behaviour.

This study by Maguire (2000) investigated the brains of London taxi drivers to determine if their exceptional spatial knowledge and navigation skills impacted their brain structure. The researchers used MRI scans to compare the hippocampi of taxi drivers to those of control subjects who did not drive taxis. They discovered that the posterior hippocampus, involved in retrieving previously learned spatial information, was significantly larger in taxi drivers, while the anterior hippocampus, associated with encoding new spatial information, was smaller. Furthermore, they found a correlation between the size of the posterior hippocampus and the number of years spent as a taxi driver, suggesting that the hippocampus can grow and adapt in response to environmental demands. This study supports the idea of neuroplasticity, the brain's ability to change its structure and function, and provides insights into the role of the hippocampus in spatial memory.