After all the train strikes on the Southern rail network, frustrated commuters might take some comfort in the fact that planning alternative routes to work each day may well have boosted their brain power.
It is well known that taxi drivers have a bigger rear hippocampus than other people, especially if they have studied the Knowledge. But this isn’t just to do with navigating the streets of a big city. In fact, scientists have found that the enlarged part of their brain is most active when they plan their route before setting off and while on the road, like programming a human satnav.
In an experiment, Dr Hugo Spiers and his colleagues asked London taxi drivers to lie in a brain scanner and play a toned-down version of Grand Theft Auto around a simulation of the city’s streets. The biggest activations in the rear hippocampus – the bit of the brain responsible for spatial awareness – took place when the drivers were forced to plan a detour after the scientists blocked off some of the roads.
Perhaps all this inadvertent brain-training, on top of the delays, could push some commuters to break out of their routines.
Dr Daniel Glaser is director of Science Gallery at King’s College London
How route planning boosts brain power
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