Maguire on Navigation and the Human Brain Program Support Notes by: Sylvia Wood B.Ed Executive Producer: Simon Garner B.Ed, Dip Management You may download and print one copy of these support notes from our website for your reference. Further copying or printing must be reported to CAL as per the Copyright Act 1968.
For Teachers Introduction A physiological or biological approach in psychology explains the relationship between our behavior and our body, particularly our brain. This program investigates the relationship between our brain and our ability to navigate in the environment. Professor Eleanor Maguire and her colleagues explore physiological psychology through a case study involving taxi drivers and navigation. Timeline 00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:31 Context 00:02:42 Methodology 00:05:58 Findings & explanation 00:09:55 Implications 00:14:47 End program Recommended Resources http://psychology.wikia.com/wiki/hippocampus http://www.ifets.info/journals/4_1/tripp.html http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/kinser/structure1.html http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/science/health-human-body-sci/humanbody/london-taxi-sci.html 2
Student Worksheet Initiate Prior Learning 1. When you think of animals that have strong navigational skills, which animals come to mind? 2. Do you consider yourself to be a good navigator? What skills do you have to support this, or which skills do you lack? 3. The Hippocampus is an area of the brain that is extremely important in spatial navigation and in the consolidation of information from short term memory to long term memory. What commonalities do you see between these two areas? 4. What careers would be well suited to people with strong navigational skills? 3
Active Viewing Guide 1..How is the skill needed to navigate the environment reflected in animals? 2. What determines hippocampus structural change? 3. Which word makes the following sentence correct, smaller or larger? Animals that need to navigate big territories have hippocampus than those that navigate small territories. 4. What is the specific hypothesis that Professor McGuire explored? 5. Name the system the hippocampus belongs to. 6. What other role does the hippocampus play? 7. Who did Professor McGuire use as subjects for her investigation? Why? 8. What is the knowledge? 9. How long does it take to learn? 4
10. What is the premise that Professor McGuire and her colleagues want to investigate? 11. A number of taxi companies were approached for the study. What was the sample size? 12. List the criteria used for selection: 13. Why was it necessary to eliminate all variables? 14. How is MRI (Medical Resonance Imaging) used in studying the brain? 15. How did the discovery of voxel based morphometry aid this study? 16. Complete the following: Scans were compared with a control group who were matched for,,,. 5
17. What was different between the taxi drivers and the control group? 18. What were the variables for this study: a) Independent variable = b) Dependent variable = 19. What correlation was discovered? 20. Outline four key findings from this research. 21. Complete the summary table of the significant role of the hippocampus. Navigation Important role Memory Structure of human brain 6
Extension Activities 1. What are some of the limitations of the study in the program? 2. What suggestions could you make to improve the study? 3. Draw a diagram showing the location of the hippocampus. 4. Research the relationship between the hippocampus and Alzheimer s disease. Report your findings. 7
Suggested Student Responses Initiate Prior Learning 1. When you think of animals that have strong navigational skills, which animals come to mind? Answers will vary 2. Do you consider yourself to be a good navigator? What skills do you have to support this, or which skills do you lack? Answers will vary 3. The Hippocampus is an area of the brain that is extremely important in spatial navigation and in the consolidation of information from short term memory to long term memory. What commonalities do you see between these two areas? Answers will vary 4. What careers would be well suited to people with strong navigational skills? Answers will vary 8
Active Viewing Guide 1. How is the skill needed to navigate the environment reflected in animals? It s reflected in the structure of their brain. 2. What determines hippocampi structural change? Structure of the hippocampi can change depending on the amount of navigation required. 3. Which word makes the following sentence correct, smaller or larger? Animals that need to navigate big territories have larger hippocampus than those that navigate small territories. 4. What is the specific hypothesis that Professor McGuire explored? Humans that navigate a lot have increased grey matter. 5. Name the system the hippocampus belongs to. Limbic system 6. What other role does the hippocampus play? Long term memory as well as spatial navigation. 7. Who did Professor McGuire use as subjects for her investigation? Why? Taxi drivers because of their navigation skills. 8. What is the knowledge? Layout of streets, places of interest. 9. How long does it take to learn? 3-4 years 10. What is the premise that Professor McGuire and her colleagues want to investigate? If structural change had occurred in the hippocampi. 11. A number of taxi companies were approached for the study. What was the sample size? 16 12. List the criteria used for selection: Health - no brain illness Drivers with more than one year experience Range of driving experience Male Right handed 13. Why was it necessary to eliminate all variables? To provide consistency. All participants are male and right handed. 14. How is MRI (Medical Resonance Imaging) used in studying the brain? To determine the value of grey matter, size and shape differences. 15. How did the discovery of voxel based morphometry aid this study? Faster, allows consideration of the brain slice by slice. 16. Complete the following: Scans were compared with a control group who were matched for age, gender, health and right handedness. 9
17. What was different between the taxi drivers and the control group? Control group had no navigation experience. 18. What were the variables for this study: a) Independent variable = navigation experience b) Dependent variable = brain structure 19. What correlation was discovered? Taxi driver brains differed significantly from the control group brains 20. Outline four key findings from this research: Taxi drivers have a greater amount of grey matter in the posterior of the hippocampus and less in the anterior. Brain plasticity storing or retrieving information Anterior hippocampus decreased volume, a matter of balance Spatial tasks taxi drivers are worse than control group as hippocampus could be bound up with navigation information. 21. Complete the summary table of the significant role of the hippocampus. Navigation Memory Important role Codes for space Damage to hippocampus = amnesia Structure of human brain Is not fixed Stimulation, learning could lead to changes in structure 10
Extension Activities 1. What are some of the limitations of the study in the program? Small sample One skill Cross sectional 2. What suggestions could you make to improve the study? Larger sample size Experts in navigation in different fields 3. Draw a diagram showing the location of the hippocampus. 4. Research the relationship between the hippocampus and Alzheimer s disease. Report your findings. Answers will vary. 11