Research Support

• What was the aim of Eleanor Maguire's study into brain plasticity?

  To investigate whether changes could be detected in the brain of London taxi drivers and investigate the functions of the hippocampus in spatial memory.
• What was the sample of Maguire's study into brain plasticity?

  16 male licensed London taxi drivers with a mean licencing time of 14.3 years.

  A control of 50 male non-taxi drivers
• What was the method of Maguire's study into brain plasticity?

  The data on the taxi drivers was collected through MRI scans and the non-taxi drivers through an MRI database. Software then converted this information into a 3D image of the brain and analysed it to calculate the amount of grey matter in the hippocampus.

  Correlation analysis was then used to investigate the relationship between hippocampus size and license length.
• What two techniques were used to analyse the data collected by MRI scans in Maguires' study into brain plasticity?

  Voxel-based morphometry and pixel counting.

  The researcher who counted the pixels was unaware of the vortex-based morphometry results and if they were taxi drivers or non-taxi drivers.
• What is voxel-based morphometry?

  This is a technique used to measure the density of grey matter in the brain.
• What is pixel counting as a technique to analyse MRI scans?

  This involves measuring an area by calculating the number of pixels in the 3D image provided by the MRI. Areas were calculated by taking images of slices of the hippocampus.

  1 scan = 24 slices (12 = body, 6 = anterior, 6 = posterior).
• What were the results of Maguire's study into brain plasticity?

  It was found that the anterior hippocampus was bigger in the control group while the posterior hippocampus was bigger in the taxi drivers.

  The size of the hippocampus correlated with the length of license, showing a relationship.
• What was the reason given for the difference in sizes of the posterior and anterior hippocampus in Maguire's study into brain plasticity?

  This is because the anterior and posterior hippocampus deal with different things.

  The anterior hippocampus is used when going through new environmental layouts, which is more common with people who learn new locations all the time.

  The posterior hippocampus is used when previously learned environmental layouts are reused, which is more common in taxi drivers who have to know specific locations. (taxi drivers).
• The case study of 14-year-old EB:

  At the age of two and a half EB had a hemispherectomy of the left side of his brain to remove a tumour, removing the language centres of Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas.

  Immediately after surgery, EB had lost all language ability. However, after two years of recovery, EB had recovered his language ability. Even without his left hemisphere, EB developed normally as he aged. fMRI scans showed that the right hemisphere followed a “left-like blueprint for language. 
• What did the case study of 14-year-old EB suggest?

  This research suggested that the brain can adapt and recover after significant damage, especially early in life, with the right hemisphere taking roles usually performed by the left hemisphere.