Eleanor Maguire, a cognitive neuroscientist who spent years studying the human brain’s ability to navigate spatially, has passed away at the age of 54. Her research on the hippocampus, particularly in relation to London taxi drivers, transformed our understanding of memory and its relationship with future planning.
Maguire’s work began when she watched a film about prospective taxi drivers memorizing London’s 25,000 streets for licensing tests. Intrigued by how some people could navigate the city so well, while others got lost, Maguire conducted a series of brain scans on taxi drivers, comparing their hippocampi to those of non-taxi drivers.
The results showed that the hippocampus plays a key role in spatial navigation, and that its size can be strengthened like a muscle. This discovery was groundbreaking, as it suggested that memory is not just a replay of the past but an active reconstructive process that shapes our imagination of the future.
Maguire’s findings also had implications for understanding the ancient Roman “method of loci,” a memorization technique that involves visualizing a large house and assigning memories to specific rooms. Her research showed that this method works by firing up the hippocampus, which in turn elicits the memorized information.
In addition to her work on spatial navigation, Maguire also studied patients with damage to the hippocampus, including those with amnesia. Her findings suggested that the hippocampus is responsible for binding snippets of information together to construct scenes from the past and future.
Maguire’s legacy extends beyond her scientific contributions. She was a passionate advocate for neuroscience research and was known for her energy and excitement in the lab. Her colleagues remembered her as someone who consumed her work, day and night, and whose curiosity and creativity drove numerous discoveries.
Born on March 27, 1970, in Dublin, Maguire graduated from University College Dublin and later earned her doctorate at the same institution. She spent most of her career at University College London, where she never left. Maguire is survived by her parents and brother, who also passed away due to cancer.
Her work continues to inspire new research and discoveries in neuroscience, and her legacy will be remembered for years to come as a pioneering scientist who unlocked the secrets of human memory and navigation.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/science/eleanor-maguire-dead.html