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Taxi drivers rarely die of Alzheimer's

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Re: Taxi drivers rarely die of Alzheimer's

#21

Post by pryelluw »

SoftTalker wrote: post #17
artisinal wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed. Elsewhere in the world taxi drivers just follow the GPS.

We had taxis long before GPS. When I was in my early 20s I had a job delivering pizza. I very quickly learned the delivery area, I knew pretty much every street and alleyway and shortcut to get from one place to another. Much smaller than London but I think the human brain is very good at remembering routes and where things are in an area, as this would have been an evolutionary advantage (go out hunting and be able…

Same. First thing they had me buy was a map book with all the local neighborhoods. The map on the wall helped get shortcuts from others. This is where I learned the difference between the different kinds of shortcuts. Some saved time, others distance, and some even potholes. It was a fun time.

Re: Taxi drivers rarely die of Alzheimer's

#22

Post by cobertos »

chuckadams wrote: post #4

The ones that do stopped being taxi drivers.

True, though the article does also mention another study not based on taxi drivers, but just living in high spatial complexity ZIP codes puts you at a lower risk.

> Research on cognitive maps points toward the same conclusion as the study on taxi drivers. In 2023, researchers ran a machine learning model on more than 22,500 people in a national dataset and were able to predict which ZIP codes had higher rates of Alzheimer’s with 84% accuracy based on how complex the environment was. Those living in spatially complex surroundings – the kind that force active map building, such as dense street networks with numerous intersections, diverse points of interest and landmarks, and multiple path options – were less likely to develop Alzheimer’s.

Re: Taxi drivers rarely die of Alzheimer's

#23

Post by graemep »

walthamstow wrote: post #12

> In one landmark 2000 study, neuroscientists compared the brains of licensed London taxi drivers with those of people who did not drive cabs. Location is very important here. London cabbies have to pass The Knowledge which is an extremely difficult memory exam that only people with particular kind of brain can do.

The first study referenced is in the US, and across 443 occupations.

Re: Taxi drivers rarely die of Alzheimer's

#26

Post by jvanderbot »

teeray wrote: post #20
Havoc wrote: post #5

Seems strange to me that a specific type of thinking could influence something where most causes being investigated are physical

Unless the arrow of causality is the other way: those that would tend to develop memory problems do not become or remain as Taxi drivers.

Right, so we're speedrunning the studies here. Best to just stopover on TFA and see what they found.

For example, airline pilots do not have a reduced level of alzheimers deaths, and that _certainly_ is not a place where you can coast with dementia.

And taxi drivers have _increasing_ anti-Alzheimer signals - with time, the areas that are known to diminish grow _more_.

Re: Taxi drivers rarely die of Alzheimer's

#27

Post by OptionOfT »

SoftTalker wrote: post #17
artisinal wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed. Elsewhere in the world taxi drivers just follow the GPS.

We had taxis long before GPS. When I was in my early 20s I had a job delivering pizza. I very quickly learned the delivery area, I knew pretty much every street and alleyway and shortcut to get from one place to another. Much smaller than London but I think the human brain is very good at remembering routes and where things are in an area, as this would have been an evolutionary advantage (go out hunting and be able…

My 2019 car had the cardinal directions in the mirror (N, NE, E, ES, S etc). My 2025 does not anymore. I hate it. I think it helps to get that baseline of orientation, and then you look at the street numbers, and it all starts to come together.

Re: Taxi drivers rarely die of Alzheimer's

#29

Post by clickety_clack »

OptionOfT wrote: post #27
SoftTalker wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We had taxis long before GPS. When I was in my early 20s I had a job delivering pizza. I very quickly learned the delivery area, I knew pretty much every street and alleyway and shortcut to get from one place to another. Much smaller than London but I think the human brain is very good at remembering routes and where things are in an area, as this would have been an evolutionary advantage (go out hunting and be able…

My 2019 car had the cardinal directions in the mirror (N, NE, E, ES, S etc). My 2025 does not anymore. I hate it. I think it helps to get that baseline of orientation, and then you look at the street numbers, and it all starts to come together.

Pretty much my only issue with CarPlay is that I can’t seem to set the map so that north is up. It turns everything into “third right ahead” instead of “this is just 2 blocks east of that coffee shop I was at last week”.

Re: Taxi drivers rarely die of Alzheimer's

#30

Post by cortic »

Taxi Drivers: The mean age at death is approximately 67.8 years.

General Population: in the same dataset, life expectancy averaged 74 years.

The average age at which patients are typically diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease is 79.

People in these jobs don't live long enough on average to get diagnosed, at the same rate. The same effect will happen in any job that lowers your life expectancy.

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