Taxi drivers who perfect the Knowledge could lose other skills

Black cab driver Anthony Street talks to The Times writer Fiona Hamilton about the affects the credit crunch is having on his industry. And how plans to curb new licenses will help him and his colleges.
Taxi rank at Paddington station which is believed to be at times the longest in Europe. 
By Chris Harris for The Times 15-1-09
Black cab driver Anthony Street talks to The Times writer Fiona Hamilton about the affects the credit crunch is having on his industry. And how plans to curb new licenses will help him and his colleges. Taxi rank at Paddington station which is believed to be at times the longest in Europe. By Chris Harris for The Times 15-1-09
CHRIS HARRIS FOR THE TIMES

London taxi drivers have near-perfect knowledge of the capital’s streets and landmarks, but learning the layout of the city could make it more difficult for them to find the keys to their cab.

MRI scans of trainee taxi drivers revealed that learning “the Knowledge” builds a part of the brain that deals with navigation, but at the expense of the ability to remember the location of objects.

The scans showed changes in the taxi drivers’ brains as they studied for the notoriously tough navigational test, suggesting that even adult brains can adapt to learning pressures.

A team from University College London, led by Professor Eleanor Maguire, followed 79 male trainee taxi drivers over four years as they memorised the 25,000 streets and 20,000 landmarks within