Everyday taxi drivers: Do better navigators have larger hippocampi?

Weisberg, Steven M.; Newcombe, Nora S.; Chatterjee, Anjan

doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2018.12.024

Cited by 41 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…In a subset of the data reported here, we found that navigational efficiency was related to self‐reported use of cognitive maps, but not directly to hippocampal volume ratios. This observation is consistent with prior evidence showing no link between navigational abilities and hippocampal volume in the general population (Maguire et al, ; Weisberg, Newcombe, & Chatterjee, ). The latter finding raises the possibility that increased pHPC volumes in taxi drivers reflect their spatial navigation strategy rather than ability alone.…”

supporting

confidence: 93%

Cognitive mapping style relates to posterior–anterior hippocampal volume ratio

et al. 2019

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As London taxi drivers acquire “the knowledge” and develop a detailed cognitive map of London, their posterior hippocampi (pHPC) gradually increase in volume, reflecting an increasing pHPC/aHPC volume ratio. In the mnemonic domain, greater pHPC/aHPC volume ratios in young adults have been found to relate to better recollection ability, indicating that the balance between pHPC and aHPC volumes might be reflective of cross‐domain individual differences. Here, we examined participants' self‐reported use of cognitive map‐based navigational strategies in relation to their pHPC/aHPC hippocampal volume ratio. We find that greater reported cognitive map use was related to significantly greater posterior, relative to anterior, hippocampal volume in two separate samples of young adults. Further, greater reported cognitive map usage correlated with better performance on a self‐initiated navigation task. Together, these data help to advance our understanding of differences between aHPC and pHPC and the greater role of pHPC in spatial mapping.

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confidence: 93%

Cognitive mapping style relates to posterior–anterior hippocampal volume ratio

et al. 2019

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“…The one previous study that investigated future thinking found no evidence 892 of an association between hippocampal volume and future thinking performancewith voxels 893 instead being located outside of the hippocampus (Yang et al, 2020). Regarding navigation, 894 two previous studies have found no relationship between hippocampal volume and 895 navigational ability in samples drawn from the general population (Maguire, Spiers, et al, 896 2003;Weisberg et al, 2019). Given the well-known "file drawer" problem (Franco, Malhotra, 897 & Simonovits, 2014;Rosenthal, 1979), the number of null results is likely to be higher than 898 those published in the literature.…”

Section: Discussion 805mentioning

confidence: 97%

“…However, interactions were only observed for one of five performance measures 150 and no multiple comparison corrections were made to the statistical threshold used to determine 151 significance. Given the reasonably large sample size and the number of tests performed on the 152 data (by both Weisberg et al, 2019 andHe &Brown, 2020) the results of this re-analysis 153 require replication before firm conclusions can be drawn. 154…”

Section: Introduction 70mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Genon, & Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, 2019). Notably, in the navigation 173 study where a larger sample of 90 participants was utilised, no relationship between 174 hippocampal volume and task performance was identified (Weisberg et al, 2019). The mixed 175 results may, therefore, simply be due to using insufficiently powered samples.…”

Section: Introduction 70mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, in that study no direct comparison was made between the two 100 patient groups, or between the patients and healthy controls, precluding interpretations about 101 the association between hippocampal volume and scene imagination ability. 102 analysis of the Weisberg et al (2019) data purports to have identified a relationship between 145 right posterior hippocampal volume and navigation performance, but one that is dependent on 146 self-reported navigation ability or being grouped according to navigation performance ability 147 (He & Brown, 2020). These interactions suggested that in low performing participants a 148 negative relationship existed between right posterior hippocampal volume and task 149 performance.…”

Section: Introduction 70mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Does hippocampal volume explain performance differences on hippocampal-dependent tasks?

Clark

Monk

Hotchin

et al. 2020

Preprint

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46Marked disparities exist across healthy individuals in their ability to imagine scenes, recall 47 autobiographical memories, think about the future and navigate in the world. The importance 48 of the hippocampus in supporting these critical cognitive functions has prompted the question 49 of whether differences in hippocampal grey matter volume could be one source of performance 50 variability. Evidence to date has been somewhat mixed. In this study we sought to mitigate 51 issues that commonly affect these types of studies. Data were collected from a large sample of 52 217 young, healthy adult participants, including whole brain structural MRI data (0.8mm 53 isotropic voxels) and widely-varying performance on scene imagination, autobiographical 54 memory, future thinking and navigation tasks. We found little evidence that hippocampal grey 55 matter volume was related to task performance in this healthy sample. This was the case using 56 different analysis methods (voxel-based morphometry, partial correlations), when whole brain 57 or hippocampal regions of interest were examined, when comparing different sub-groups 58 (divided by gender, task performance, self-reported ability), and when using latent variables 59 derived from across the cognitive tasks. Hippocampal grey matter volume may not, therefore, 60 significantly influence performance on tasks known to require the hippocampus in healthy 61 people. Perhaps only in extreme situations, as in the case of licensed London taxi drivers, are 62 measurable ability-related hippocampus volume changes consistently exhibited. 63 64 65 KEYWORDS 66 Hippocampal volume; scene construction; autobiographical memory; future thinking; spatial 67 navigation; individual differences 68 69 A larger number of studies have investigated the relationship between hippocampal 103 volume and memory ability in healthy individuals, but with mixed results. On the one hand, 104

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Negative correlation between grey matter in the hippocampus and caudate nucleus in healthy aging

Sodums

Bohbot

2020

Hippocampus

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Neurobiological changes that occur with aging include a reduction in function and volume of the hippocampus. These changes were associated with corresponding memory deficits in navigation tasks. However, navigation can involve different strategies that are dependent on the hippocampus and caudate nucleus. The proportion of people using hippocampus‐dependent spatial strategies decreases across the lifespan. As such, the decrease in spatial strategies, and corresponding increase in caudate nucleus‐dependent response strategies with age, may play a role in the observed neurobiological changes in the hippocampus. Furthermore, we previously showed a negative correlation between grey matter in the hippocampus and caudate nucleus/striatum in mice, young adults, and in individuals diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. As such, we hypothesized that this negative relationship between the two structures would be present during normal aging. The aim of the current study was to investigate this gap in the literature by studying the relationship between grey matter in the hippocampus and caudate nucleus of the striatum, in relation to each other and to navigation strategies, during healthy aging. Healthy older adults (N = 39) were tested on the Concurrent Spatial Discrimination Learning Task (CSDLT), a virtual radial task that dissociates between spatial and response strategies. A regression of strategies against structural MRIs showed for the first time in older adults that the response strategy was associated with higher amounts of grey matter in the caudate nucleus. As expected, the spatial strategy correlated with grey matter in the hippocampus, which was negatively correlated with grey matter in the caudate nucleus. Interestingly, a sex difference emerged showing that among older adult response learners, women have the least amount of grey matter in the hippocampus, which is a known risk for Alzheimer's disease. This difference was absent among spatial learners. These results are discussed in the context of the putative protective role of spatial memory against grey matter loss in the hippocampus, especially in women.

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Everyday taxi drivers: Do better navigators have larger hippocampi?

Cited by 41 publications

References 68 publications

Cognitive mapping style relates to posterior–anterior hippocampal volume ratio

Cognitive mapping style relates to posterior–anterior hippocampal volume ratio

Does hippocampal volume explain performance differences on hippocampal-dependent tasks?

Negative correlation between grey matter in the hippocampus and caudate nucleus in healthy aging

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