Adapting Brains to Specific Needs

The brain can be changed through hard work based on one's requirements. A study comparing taxi drivers and bus drivers found that each group had relative strengths and weaknesses depending on the demands of their specific jobs. While taxi drivers excelled in tasks related to navigating London, like estimating distances and recognizing landmarks, bus drivers performed better in tasks involving new information retention, such as remembering lists of words. Both groups performed equally well in tasks like recognizing faces or remembering stories. The study shows that brains adapt to store specific knowledge needed for functioning, yet there could be a trade-off in certain memory systems. Ultimately, the value of a particular brain type depends on what one aims to achieve with it.