Researchers in Canada have combined two technologies – driving simulation and functional magnetic resonance imaging of the brain – to identify the parts of the brain involved in a variety of real-world driving maneuvers.<\/p>\n
Minimal brain activation was found\u00a0during simple driving tasks such as turning\u00a0right (in the US, turning left in Australia), consistent with the\u00a0‘automation’ of some basic\u00a0driving skills.<\/p>\n
Importantly,\u00a0the team also identified the parts of the brain active during complex driving tasks such as turning across oncoming traffic (ie turning left in the US, turning right in Australia) while distracted. We are well aware of the role distraction plays in crash risk, and so to simulate talking on hands-free phone participants were asked to perform an auditory task.<\/p>\n
Distracted driving resulted in\u00a0a considerably\u00a0different ‘driving map’. The research findings\u00a0“suggest that the distracted brain sacrificed areas in the…brain important for visual attention and alertness to recruit enough brain resources to perform a secondary, cognitive task<\/em>.” These findings\u00a0are also of\u00a0particular interest to those developing and adminstering fitness-to-drive assessments: the findings suggesting that\u00a0assessments should incorporate a variety of driving circumstances of increasing\u00a0complexity, including requiring the driver to converse with the Examiner.<\/p>\n