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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 26, 2026

Modeling the Functional Network for Spatial Navigation in the Human Brain

Modeling the Functional Network for Spatial Navigation in the Human Brain

Published on: October 13, 2023

Acquiring "the Knowledge" of London's layout drives structural brain changes.

Katherine Woollett¹, Eleanor A Maguire

¹Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, UK.

Current Biology : CB

|December 16, 2011

Summary

Learning complex spatial navigation, like London's streets, can change adult brain structure. This study shows that acquiring spatial memory skills leads to lasting gray matter increases in the hippocampus.

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Psychology
Neuroplasticity

Background:

Cross-sectional studies link brain structure to skills, but cannot establish causation.
Longitudinal studies often confound development with learning or focus on short timescales.
Previous research has primarily investigated the motor domain.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate longitudinal, structural brain changes in adults learning a complex real-world skill.
To examine the relationship between acquiring spatial memory and brain structure.
To explore the impact of biologically relevant behaviors on adult brain plasticity.

Main Methods:

Studied adults training to become London taxi drivers over four years.
Compared brain structure and memory profiles of qualifying drivers, non-qualifying trainees, and controls.
Utilized neuroimaging to assess gray matter volume changes.

Main Results:

Qualifying taxi drivers showed a selective increase in gray matter volume in posterior hippocampi.
These structural changes were associated with alterations in memory profiles.
No significant structural brain changes were observed in non-qualifying trainees or control participants.

Conclusions:

Specific, enduring structural brain changes can be induced by complex behaviors engaging higher cognitive functions in adults.
Spatial memory acquisition through real-world learning drives neuroplasticity.
Findings contribute to the understanding of "nature versus nurture" in adult brain development.