Brain Responds To Driving Routes Repeatedly

From the backseat[后座] of a cab[出租车], the moves a driver makes may at times seem, let’s say, daring[大胆的，勇敢的]. In fact, cabbies[计程车司机] may actually be better, more agile[敏捷的；机敏的；活泼的] drivers than the rest of us. Because they know their streets so well.

Previous research found that the hippocampus[海马体] in the brain of a typical cab driver is enlarged[扩大，增大]. That’s the part of the brain used in navigation[航行;导航;浏览]. But now a study confirms that learning detailed navigation information does indeed cause that part of the brain to grow. The findings are in the journal NeuroImage.

Researchers had young adults who were not regular gamers play a driving simulation game[驾驶模拟游戏]. Some practiced maneuvering[机动；操纵；演习] the same route 20 times, while other players were confronted with[面临,面对;对照] 20 different routes. The participants’ brains were scanned[扫描] before they performed the simulated driving[模拟行驶] and again after.

Researchers found that subjects who kept repeating the same route[不断重复相同路线] increased their speed more than those driving multiple routes[多条路线]. The single-route drivers were also much better able to put in order a sequence of random pictures taken along the way and to draw a map[画地图] of the route.

The investigators also found increases in the single-route drivers in the functional connectivity[（脑）功能连接] between the hippocampus[海马体] and other parts of the brain involved with navigation[航行;导航;浏览]. And the amount of change was directly related to the amount of improvement each participant displayed.

These findings may explain why your Uber driver can eventually get you from point A to point B, but may lack the seemingly effortless mental flexibility[思维灵活性] that a yellow cabbie displays on the streets. Veterans[老兵;老手，富有经验的人] have been there, done that—and their brains show it.

—Erika Beras

From 60-Second Science