Taxicab Driving in London and the Hippocampus Advantage

by Jonan Castillon (18 March 2010)

London cabbies' mastery of routes, traffic movement and alternative maneuvers around the City of London is very phenomenal. What started out as a rigid test for drivers to master the streets of London, the Knowledge Test turned out to have a metabolically significant growth effect on the brain of London's taxicab drivers.
 

Many researches have been done on the cab driver's brain to study the effect of storing the layout of major streets in London. The finding is that the cabbie driver's hippocampus, a part of the brain associated with navigation, expands as it stores and processes the routes that they pass through to transport their passengers. Furthermore, the scientists discovered that portion of the hippocampus enlarges more the longer the cabbies drive.
 

These findings proved that driving around London is not a simple driving task but one that requires thinking, analysis, and judgment. In other words, the London cabbies' driving is a feat that harnesses a tremendous amount of brain activity.
 

Getting a license to drive a taxi in London is not a "walk in a park" process. Drivers go through a rigorous training to gain "the Knowledge", which is a keen knowledge and mastery of the many interweaving streets of London. It involves determining the best direction towards any destination in the city, naming the streets that have to be passed through, and important edifices and tourist's destinations. The training lasts for almost three years and along the way many candidates have dropped out and only the best and capable remains to pass the tests.
 

London drivers who are endowed with the hippocampus advantage for gaining "the Knowledge" is one legacy that must be sustained throughout generations. This implies discipline, quality service, passion and prestige for the simple driving trade. Thus, when you are in London do not hesitate to ride on the taxi of your choice starting from your arrival at Heathrow Airport to any place in London.