Hippocampus February 2007 PMID 17024677

London taxi drivers and bus drivers: a structural MRI and neuropsychological analysis.

Eleanor A Maguire, Katherine Woollett, Hugo J Spiers

Mentions

186
Peak: 11 in Dec 2024
across 7 sources since Jun 2019

Extended reach

81,904
potential audience

Total likes

288

Video views

6,279

Mentions per month

Jun 2019 – Oct 2025

Where it's discussed

  • News87 articles
  • X / Twitter35 posts
  • Blogs32 articles
  • Facebook15 posts
  • YouTube9 videos
  • Reddit5 posts
  • Bluesky3 posts

AI synopsis

What people are saying

Several posts highlight specific aspects of the research, such as the greater gray matter volume in the mid-posterior hippocampus of taxi drivers and the correlation with navigation experience. The tone varies from scientific curiosity to admiration for the brain's ability to physically adapt through experience, exemplified by phrases like 'brain cells can grow' and comparisons of taxi drivers’ brains to learning organs. The choice of words and emphasis on neuroplasticity underscore a shared interest in the study’s implications for understanding human brain capacity and development.

AgreementModerate agreement

Most discussions acknowledge the study’s findings, with some emphasizing the evidence of brain structure changes due to navigation experience.

InterestNeutral interest
EngagementNeutral engagement
ImpactNeutral impact

Abstract in brief

  • The study examined how London's taxi and bus drivers differ in brain structure and navigation skills, finding that taxi drivers have more gray matter in the back part of the hippocampus and less in the front, which is linked to their extensive navigation experience.
  • Researchers suggest that these brain differences are mainly related to the skill of spatial knowledge and navigation, rather than stress or self-motion during driving.
  • Interestingly, taxi drivers were less capable of learning new visual-spatial information compared to bus drivers, indicating that their brain adaptations for expert navigation might reduce their ability to acquire new spatial memories.]

Top posts

Most liked on X and Bluesky
AGenderCriticalDad
@dad_gc · X

@jonst0kes @buttonslives Also London cabbies who have done the knowledge. https://t.co/CTWLhcO7Ss a similar argument could be used to say that cabbies were born that way

Apr 7, 2023 · 14 likes · 6,482 followers View post →
thmonk
@thmonk_pf · X

お馴染みBMJクリスマス論文 空間認知/空間情報処理のエキスパートはアルツハイマー病による死亡率が低い 死亡約900万人中タクシーと救急車運転手で最も割合が低かった

Dec 23, 2024 · 12 likes · 7 shares · 1,644 followers View post →
Sato_Masatoshi
@soshusan · X

岡田先生追加 ロンドンバスとタクシードライバー #ニューロリハセミナー London taxi drivers and bus drivers: a structural MRI and neuropsychological analysis. - PubMed - NCBI https://t.co/UhjAXV0SQg

Jun 8, 2019 · 4 likes · 1 share · 829 followers View post →
Krzysztof Potempa
@BRAINCURES · X

Compared with bus drivers London taxi drivers had greater gray matter volume in mid-posterior hippocampi and less volume in anterior hippocampi. Furthermore, years of navigation experience correlated with hippocampal gray matter volume only in taxi drivers https://t.co/VOQXX6vIRw

Feb 6, 2023 · 3 likes · 2,663 followers View post →
Femipissed
@generalgendered · X

@CTPatriot17 @JamieWhistle I always use the London cab drivers as an example: https://t.co/w7VDVmTtZC

Feb 27, 2025 · 3 likes · 671 followers View post →
Dan Holloway
@agnieszkasshoes · X

“London taxi drivers and bus drivers: a structural MRI and neuropsychological analysis“ is one of the seminal papers for understanding creative memory. In framing her experiment Prof Eleanor Maguire made the brilliant creative move of comparing taxi drivers & bus drivers

May 29, 2020 · 2 likes · 2 shares · 10,452 followers View post →

All mentions

artisbrutal2021
@artisbrutal2021 · X

2011 Wellcome Department of Imaging Neuroscience, Institute of Neurology, University College London, 12 Queen Square, London WC1N "London taxi drivers and bus drivers: a structural MRI and neuropsychological analysis"

Oct 10, 2025 · 1 like · 6,893 followers View post →
Divergent Streams
@DivergentStream · X

@IsaInsane1 London taxi drivers and bus drivers: a structural MRI and neuropsychological analysis https://t.co/DFk2VOOUIA

Aug 11, 2025 · 2,706 followers View post →
Kevin Whelan
@WhelanKev · X

@wideawake_media To the naysayers - there is considerable evidence that lack of use,age and other factors can physically shrink the hippocampus: https://t.co/i90SL7RqaT https://t.co/SMxeuZMVAk

Jul 16, 2025 · 80 followers View post →
Julia Owen
@juliastarowen · X

@ABridgen https://t.co/SoYggcubVW brain cells can grow as in Maguire study on taxi drivers and how hippocampus grows for spatial memory

Jul 15, 2025 · 251 followers View post →
Kasia
@scullingmonkey.bsky.social · Bluesky

wait til someone tells them the effects navigating london had on cabbies' brains pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17024677/

Jun 4, 2025 · 2 likes View post →
Femipissed
@generalgendered · X

@CTPatriot17 @JamieWhistle I always use the London cab drivers as an example: https://t.co/w7VDVmTtZC

Feb 27, 2025 · 3 likes · 671 followers View post →
ジョ美
@Piyopiyo_0416 · X

RT @thmonk_pf: お馴染みBMJクリスマス論文 空間認知/空間情報処理のエキスパートはアルツハイマー病による死亡率が低い 死亡約900万人中タクシーと救急車運転手で最も割合が低かった

Dec 27, 2024 · 7 shares · 306 followers View post →
つれぇわやっぱ
@arazou1973 · X

RT @thmonk_pf: お馴染みBMJクリスマス論文 空間認知/空間情報処理のエキスパートはアルツハイマー病による死亡率が低い 死亡約900万人中タクシーと救急車運転手で最も割合が低かった

Dec 24, 2024 · 7 shares · 172 followers View post →
かめぞう
@kamezo_poem_565 · X

RT @thmonk_pf: お馴染みBMJクリスマス論文 空間認知/空間情報処理のエキスパートはアルツハイマー病による死亡率が低い 死亡約900万人中タクシーと救急車運転手で最も割合が低かった

Dec 23, 2024 · 7 shares · 233 followers View post →
thmonk
@thmonk_pf · X

RT @thmonk_pf: お馴染みBMJクリスマス論文 空間認知/空間情報処理のエキスパートはアルツハイマー病による死亡率が低い 死亡約900万人中タクシーと救急車運転手で最も割合が低かった

Dec 23, 2024 · 7 shares · 1,644 followers View post →
tweety fish oh no what a hideous terrifying chimera
@sifu.tweety.fish · Bluesky

Famously correlated with hippocampus size in the brain! pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17024677/

Dec 23, 2024 · 1 share View post →
ニシモト
@nishimoto_ST · X

RT @thmonk_pf: お馴染みBMJクリスマス論文 空間認知/空間情報処理のエキスパートはアルツハイマー病による死亡率が低い 死亡約900万人中タクシーと救急車運転手で最も割合が低かった

Dec 23, 2024 · 7 shares · 258 followers View post →
Shigekazu Ishihara
@shigekzishihara · X

RT @thmonk_pf: お馴染みBMJクリスマス論文 空間認知/空間情報処理のエキスパートはアルツハイマー病による死亡率が低い 死亡約900万人中タクシーと救急車運転手で最も割合が低かった

Dec 23, 2024 · 7 shares · 7,058 followers View post →
Gohsuke Takama
@gohsuket · X

RT @thmonk_pf: お馴染みBMJクリスマス論文 空間認知/空間情報処理のエキスパートはアルツハイマー病による死亡率が低い 死亡約900万人中タクシーと救急車運転手で最も割合が低かった

Dec 23, 2024 · 7 shares · 2,986 followers View post →
thmonk
@thmonk_pf · X

お馴染みBMJクリスマス論文 空間認知/空間情報処理のエキスパートはアルツハイマー病による死亡率が低い 死亡約900万人中タクシーと救急車運転手で最も割合が低かった

Dec 23, 2024 · 12 likes · 7 shares · 1,644 followers View post →
Janice
@Janice5e · X

@gregisenberg @bigmisterash https://t.co/8im5EGFo0n

Dec 18, 2024 · 1 like · 3,684 followers View post →
Chris Worsham
@chrisworsham.com · Bluesky

This study was the inspiration for the paper: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17024677/

Dec 17, 2024 · 1 share View post →
Tamritz
@tamritzblog · X

@giladmp דוגמה לקונספט כזה https://t.co/dgO5chHj7F

Jul 2, 2024 · 1,243 followers View post →
Medical Cover Up
@medicalcoverup · X

London taxi drivers and bus drivers: a structural MRI & neuropsychological analysis https://t.co/Bg1OklBZKC "compared with bus drivers, taxi drivers had greater gray matter volume in mid-posterior hippocampi & less volume in anterior hippocampi" Too many https://t.co/3AL65Tudgc

Oct 21, 2023 · 1,299 followers View post →
Charles Thomas Wild
@CharlesThomasW7 · X

London taxi drivers and bus drivers: a structural MRI and ... National Institutes of Health (.gov) ... 2006 ... — Licensed London taxi drivers show that humans have a remarkable capacity to acquire and use knowledge of a large complex city to navigate within it.

Jun 2, 2023 · 361 followers View post →
AGenderCriticalDad
@dad_gc · X

@jonst0kes @buttonslives Also London cabbies who have done the knowledge. https://t.co/CTWLhcO7Ss a similar argument could be used to say that cabbies were born that way

Apr 7, 2023 · 14 likes · 6,482 followers View post →
Dr. Mikko 'Oreshnik' Laakso, MD, PhD.
@milaakso · X

@KKuusiranta @Jasminepatasane Hermoston "osan" saa kasvamaan. Lontoon taksikuskit oli klassinen keissi. https://t.co/oQgX7jb34C

Feb 10, 2023 · 1 like · 3,841 followers View post →
Krzysztof Potempa
@BRAINCURES · X

Compared with bus drivers London taxi drivers had greater gray matter volume in mid-posterior hippocampi and less volume in anterior hippocampi. Furthermore, years of navigation experience correlated with hippocampal gray matter volume only in taxi drivers https://t.co/VOQXX6vIRw

Feb 6, 2023 · 3 likes · 2,663 followers View post →
Cal Fact Check
@CalFactCheck · X

RT @mindshelp: Taxi drivers’ brains grow on the job. #Psychology #FactCheck #FactsMatter #interesting #braindevelopment #psychologyfacts #…

May 30, 2022 · 1 share · 1,580 followers View post →
Mind Help
@MindStarHelp · X

Taxi drivers’ brains grow on the job. #Psychology #FactCheck #FactsMatter #interesting #braindevelopment #psychologyfacts #mindhelp Source: https://t.co/6Ju73F3Q8s https://t.co/htNXjolXHg

May 30, 2022 · 1 like · 1 share · 1,606 followers View post →
Quiet Storm
@QuietSt94764247 · X

@WW2HistoryGal https://t.co/8BAEJZRxg3 https://t.co/VpfLsvPWOr Melissa, here are some of the pioneering scholarly research works on brain plasticity.

Dec 28, 2021 · 2 likes · 146 followers View post →
Charles Thomas Wild
@CharlesThomasW7 · X

London taxi drivers and bus drivers: a structural MRI and ...https://t.co/r8TZh2wHSn › ... by EA Maguire · 2006 · Cited by 997 — Gray matter volume differences in the hippocampus relative to controls have been reported to accompany this expertise. While these gray matter

Aug 10, 2021 · 361 followers View post →
Uranium 235
@nkhartare · X

@tandle_rao @praneeth_rao @JoeAgneya @aaryabharata https://t.co/e4mJNbQgUy Seems these taxi drivers too learn Sanskrit

Sep 24, 2020 · 91 followers View post →
寺田正嗣
@srr_terada · X

こちらの論文がソース。 https://t.co/vSrBd0hiKQ

Aug 19, 2020 · 2 likes · 2,968 followers View post →
Hass und Zorn
@lindermannAnon · X

RT @shldmdn: @felescaerulea 147. А у лондонских таксистов увеличивается гиппокамп. https://t.co/DT5Glh5Bug Все исследования "мы померяли мо…

Aug 8, 2020 · 5 shares · 159 followers View post →
Charles Thomas Wild
@CharlesThomasW7 · X

London Taxi Drivers and Bus Drivers: A Structural MRI and ...www.researchgate.net › publication › 6769737_Londo... In the case of spatial memory, London taxi drivers who had acquired intensive navigation information and experience were found to have an increased volume ...

Jul 20, 2020 · 361 followers View post →
mellifera
@mellifera18 · X

@WiseNotPretty @SaltiredPopcorn @CaptainLuluu @KarinEliot @PhoenixinLondon @drawnoutofshape @st3ff_moses @Glinner @OwenJones84 London taxi drivers have different brains, because the brain is a learning organ and is shaped by experience. So something showing up in the brain is not necessarily proof it is entirely caused by genetics https://t.co/BbwU1NY1wS

Jun 14, 2020 · 410 followers View post →
Dan Holloway
@agnieszkasshoes · X

“London taxi drivers and bus drivers: a structural MRI and neuropsychological analysis“ is one of the seminal papers for understanding creative memory. In framing her experiment Prof Eleanor Maguire made the brilliant creative move of comparing taxi drivers & bus drivers

May 29, 2020 · 2 likes · 2 shares · 10,452 followers View post →
@jhengstler
@jhengstler · X

@EducationNext “spatial knowledge...associated with pattern of hippocampal gray matter volume” different in taxi drivers vs bus drivers in London but bus drivers can learn new routes more quickly https://t.co/XDkesDf8ND

Apr 13, 2020 · 1 like · 3,818 followers View post →
Azeez Adebimpe
@a3sha2 · X

@DrJoeAbah https://t.co/zHtqo8qiE0 example

Mar 15, 2020 · 2 likes · 1,019 followers View post →
Sean Kenny
@spkenny67 · X

@KestonCabby @guidoacasa Whilst completing the KoL is a commendable achievement and has in fact been demonstrated to enlarge the posterior hippocampus in those that have completed it (see London Taxi Drivers and Bus Drivers: A Structural MRI and Neuropsychological Analysis - Maguire et al) it's not......

Dec 18, 2019 · 1,215 followers View post →
米元佑太
@yutayonemoto · X

RT @soshusan: 岡田先生追加 ロンドンバスとタクシードライバー #ニューロリハセミナー London taxi drivers and bus drivers: a structural MRI and neuropsychological analysis. -…

Jun 8, 2019 · 1 share · 6,000 followers View post →
Sato_Masatoshi
@soshusan · X

岡田先生追加 ロンドンバスとタクシードライバー #ニューロリハセミナー London taxi drivers and bus drivers: a structural MRI and neuropsychological analysis. - PubMed - NCBI https://t.co/UhjAXV0SQg

Jun 8, 2019 · 4 likes · 1 share · 829 followers View post →