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Dementia research could be fueled by cabbage brains in London

TORONTO – In London, UK, taxi drivers must pass a rigorous test called Knowledge to become experts on the city’s GPS-free roads. Now, researchers are studying their unique brains to see if these radishes can help shed light on the understanding of dementia.

It’s called the Taxi Brains project, and it’s being run by researchers at University College London.

“We know that in Alzheimer’s disease, an important part of the brain [that] Degeneration is the hippocampus,” Hugo Spiers, professor of cognitive neuroscience and principal investigator on the study, told CTVNews.ca in an email. “London taxi drivers have previously been found to have an increase in the size of their hippocampus after decades of taxi driving.

“Because incremental scale is associated with years of driving/navigation or training to become [taxi] drivers, evidence suggests that memorization and use of spatial knowledge leads to structural alterations of the hippocampus”.

Previous studies have shown that learning London Knowledge leads to improvements in the brain, he explains.

Scientists believe that if they can understand the mechanism behind a stronger hippocampus and how it connects to spatial memory, that could help scientists find better ways to develop Alzheimer’s disease and dementia earlier in the process, which is essential to limit the spread of the disease and provide a better quality of life for sufferers. The hippocampus is involved in learning and memory, two functions that begin to slip as dementia progresses.

So what is London Knowledge? This is a requirement to drive a taxi in London, and involves spending up to four years researching hundreds of routes and landmarks in the city.

“London taxi drivers are required to know the layout of the street and use it to plan routes,” says Spiers. “It was historically established in the 1800s and there are no plans to change it despite having had access to GPS for many years. Great Britain loves its traditions! ”

In total, London has more than 58,000 streets and 26,000 are located within a six-mile radius of London’s center, Charing Cross. Being able to keep a map of the area in mind and plan your route no matter where you are is quite a feat.

While other cities allow taxi drivers to use GPS and automated route planning programs, London taxi drivers always use their memory to navigate the city and the difference. that makes their brains unique.

The researchers recruited London taxi drivers to come and scan their brains during an hour-long MRI scan. Participants were compensated and also given a questionnaire to fill out at home to test their understanding and retention of the streets of London.

So far, about 30 taxi drivers have participated.

Part of the research involved testing a potential diagnostic tool with taxi drivers to establish an “upper limit of navigability” and help improve the tool.

“Research on Alzheimer’s disease and dementia in general is horribly lacking, and we need more research to understand the risk factors and lifestyle choices involved,” Spiers said. to the onset of these conditions,” says Spiers.

“This work hopes to provide a better understanding of a group of people whose brain regions involved in orientation and memory are enhanced with experience. They are a rare group of experts, and we need to know more about what their brains can tell us, as it can provide clues to [tackling] Dementia. ”

Spiers said they are hoping to get results next summer.

“It depends on the amount of work required for the data to give up its secrets,” he said.

He added that they are still recruiting taxi drivers and anyone interested can contact them through the project’s website.

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