"Now direct things in the environment, like navigation, appear to show changes in the brain. So we could in the future see some rehabilitation programmes that use that kind of knowledge."

Dr Maguire's research is published in the US scientific journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/677048.stm

The Knowledge According To The Taxi Directory

The earliest Taxis or Hackney Carriages as they are known, have been working the streets of London since the early 17th century providing the people of London with a renowned taxi service, commonly known as the London Black Cab, recognized as being the best taxis in the world. What makes these taxi drivers the best is known in the taxi trade as The Knowledge. A test designed to ensure every licensed taxi driver in the United Kingdom is competent at this trade and that they offer the highest service levels possible.

Driving a Taxi in the UK is not just a matter of picking up your keys and jumping in your cab, there are a few things you need to do before you can get you license to drive. Firstly you have to be police checked to make sure you have a clean driving license and no criminal record. You must also undertake a medical examination to ensure you’re a fit and healthy person to drive a taxi. Then you are tested on your knowledge of the area you intent to work in. All Local Authorities are responsible for granting taxi drivers licenses they require Hackney Carriage drivers to sit an exam and answer questions such as road locations, routes between given points and places of interest and importance such as hospitals, police stations pubs and clubs etc. All designed to ensure any licensed taxi driver knows his or her area and competent proper person to do so.

The standards of such examinations are set by each local authorities licensing department. Probably the most difficult of all is over seen by the Public Carriage Office in London. To drive one of the world famous Black Cabs or Hackney Carriages as they are also known you have to pass the worlds most intensive taxi training course known as the Knowledge the test itself dates back to 1865 and has changed little since. It requires a driver to have a detailed knowledge of central London within a radius of six miles of Charing Cross Station. There are some 25000 roads and streets 320 runs or routes across town as well as places of interest, tourist attractions and important landmarks to learn. Quite a task for anyone but for the knowledge boys whose ambition it is to drive a London Taxi, a goal that takes on average 40 months to achieve.

You can often see them on scooters with a clipboard and map attached driving around the streets of London learning there way. When they have learnt all they need to know they must sit an examination to test this knowledge and attend a series of interviews known as appearances and answer questions on routes and landmarks. Examples of the type of questions would be to list all the theatres on Shaftsbury Avenue as you would pass them and the Streets and traffic signals you would pass along the way. Another would be to give the shortest route between two points in the city and then take into account traffic during the rush hours and when congestion occurs suggest alternative routes to avoid it where possible.

Its also a fact that in learning the knowledge a persons brain grows so when you next get in a cab and you think the drivers a bit of a know it all he just might !
But whatever you do always use a Licensed Private Hire car or Hackney Carriage Taxi your be in safe hands, at The Taxi Directory thats all we list!

http://www.thetaxidirectory.co.uk/5.html

'The Knowledge’ An Article From British Icons

London taxi drivers are legendary for their encyclopedic grasp of the country's capital city and ‘the Knowledge’ - the assessment all wannabe London cabbies have to pass with flying colours - is notorious for being a mind-bendingly difficult slog. It can take around three to four years of hard training to pass, and according to Malcolm Linskey, manager of London taxi school Knowledge Point, three-quarters of those who embark on the course drop out.

Introduced by Sir Richard Mayne in 1851, ‘the Knowledge’ came about after customers complained that drivers didn’t know where they were going.

In addition to having quick-fire knowledge of some 25,000 streets within six miles of Charing Cross Station, London cabbies also have to know the capital’s notable landmarks and places of interest, as well as the location of London’s hospitals, police stations, courts, government buildings, train and underground stations and main parks.

In order to qualify for ‘the Knowledge’, applicants must have a clean driving licence, be over 21 years of age, and have no criminal record. The next step is to pass a written test; which qualifies them to make an 'appearance'.
As part of their training, hopeful cabbies follow need-to-know routes around London on a moped, identifying them as they go using the map holder fixed to the front of the bike, this then earns them the name knowledge boys (or girls). 

At appearances, knowledge boys (or girls) must, without looking at the map, identify the quickest and most sensible route between any two points in metropolitan London that their examiner chooses.

For each route the applicants must recite the names of the roads used and when they cross junctions, use roundabouts, make turns, and what is 'alongside' them at each point. How many of the routes (runs) and places of interest you need to know will depend on whether you want to be an All London or a Suburban driver.

Once prospective cabbies make it though all the hard-core training and pass the final exam, they receive the coveted green and gold medallion, which grants them with a licence to work - to pick up hailing punters in the street.

A cabbie navigation trick: “Little apples grow quickly” gives you the order of the theatres on the north side of Shaftesbury Avenue: Lyric, Apollo, Gielgud, Queen's.

Although ‘the Knowledge’ is probably one the most testing and brain-straining times a potential cabbie will ever go through, the rewards to be reaped are not to be sniffed at. Black cabbies are self-employed and can earn significantly more than minicab drivers. A black cab fare from Shepherd's Bush to Heathrow for example, might cost £50, compared with £28 for a minicab.

Furthermore, wannabe cabbies' brains will grow. Yes indeed, by learning (and then regularly using) ‘the Knowledge’, the part of the brain associated with navigation (which is associated with navigation in birds and animals) will grow. Upon hearing that taxi drivers’ grey matter literally enlarges and adapts to create a mental map of the city, taxi driver David Cohen, joke when interviewed by the BBC:

“I never noticed part of my brain growing - it makes you wonder what happened to the rest of it.”

A humorous 1979 film about this learning experience, called The Knowledge, was written by Jack Rosenthal for ITV, and was in 2000 voted number 83 in a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes compiled by the British Film Institute. And if you fancy seeing how well you would do at passing ‘the Knowledge’, visit the London Transport Museum and have a go on their version of the infamously tricky test.

http://www.icons.org.uk/theicons/collection/blackcab/features/2018the-knowledge2019