Cabbies' Brains Grow to Store Detailed Maps London cabbies are renowned for their encyclopedic knowledge of the city's streets.
Applicants have to pass a test to become a taxi driver.
It may very well be London's cab drivers. The brains of London taxi drivers grow and adapt to help them store a detailed mental map of the vast city, according to research published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science . Mental Map Grows London cabbies are renowned for their encyclopedic knowledge of the city's streets. Applicants have to pass a test to become a taxi driver. Each year, about 3,500 people apply for licences to drive the famed black cabs, but only a fifth are successful.