Woollett Katherine, Spiers Hugo J, Maguire Eleanor A
Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, Institute of Neurology, University College London, 12 Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK.
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2009 May 27;364(1522):1407-16. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2008.0288.
While there is widespread interest in and admiration of individuals with exceptional talents, surprisingly little is known about the cognitive and neural mechanisms underpinning talent, and indeed how talent relates to expertise. Because many talents are first identified and nurtured in childhood, it can be difficult to determine whether talent is innate, can be acquired through extensive practice or can only be acquired in the presence of the developing brain. We sought to address some of these issues by studying healthy adults who acquired expertise in adulthood. We focused on the domain of memory and used licensed London taxi drivers as a model system. Taxi drivers have to learn the layout of 25,000 streets in London and the locations of thousands of places of interest, and pass stringent examinations in order to obtain an operating licence. Using neuropsychological assessment and structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging, we addressed a range of key questions: in the context of a fully developed brain and an average IQ, can people acquire expertise to an exceptional level; what are the neural signatures, both structural and functional, associated with the use of expertise; does expertise change the brain compared with unskilled control participants; does it confer any cognitive advantages, and similarly, does it come at a cost to other functions? By studying retired taxi drivers, we also consider what happens to their brains and behaviour when experts stop using their skill. Finally, we discuss how the expertise of taxi drivers might relate to the issue of talent and innate abilities. We suggest that exploring talent and expertise in this manner could have implications for education, rehabilitation of patients with cognitive impairments, understanding individual differences and possibly conditions such as autism where exceptional abilities can be a feature.
尽管人们对具有非凡才能的个体普遍感兴趣并钦佩有加，但令人惊讶的是，对于支撑才能的认知和神经机制，以及才能与专业技能究竟如何关联，我们却知之甚少。由于许多才能在童年时期就首次被发现并得到培养，因此很难确定才能是天生的、可以通过大量练习获得，还是只能在大脑发育过程中才能获得。我们试图通过研究成年后获得专业技能的健康成年人来解决其中一些问题。我们聚焦于记忆领域，并将获得执照的伦敦出租车司机作为一个模型系统。出租车司机必须记住伦敦25000条街道的布局以及数千个名胜古迹的位置，并通过严格的考试才能获得运营执照。我们运用神经心理学评估以及结构和功能磁共振成像技术，解决了一系列关键问题：在大脑完全发育且智商处于平均水平的情况下，人们能否获得卓越水平的专业技能；与专业技能运用相关的结构和功能方面的神经特征是什么；与未掌握技能的对照参与者相比，专业技能是否会改变大脑；它是否赋予了任何认知优势，同样地，它是否会对其他功能造成代价？通过研究退休出租车司机，我们还思考了当专家停止使用他们的技能时，他们的大脑和行为会发生什么变化。最后，我们讨论出租车司机的专业技能可能如何与才能和天赋能力问题相关联。我们认为，以这种方式探索才能和专业技能可能会对教育、认知障碍患者的康复、理解个体差异以及可能对诸如自闭症等特殊能力可能是一个特征的病症产生影响。
