2005 SAE: Brain Imaging Advances New Driver Distraction Research

Report to be unveiled at SAE World Congress lays foundation for upcoming cell phone study, possible other work

DETROIT, April 11, 2005; What happens deep inside your brain when you're talking on the phone and suddenly have to brake? Soon, researchers from General Motors, Wayne State University and Henry Ford Hospital may have an answer, thanks to new research revealed today.

"We don't have the answer today, but this research lays the foundation that could lead us to an answer," said Richard A. Young, Ph.D., GM's lead researcher on the team.

The research, to be shared at the SAE World Congress on Monday (April 11), was conducted in 2003 and 2004 and benchmarks data against which future studies can be measured. It was funded by the GM Foundation and is believed to be the first research that addresses driver distraction by using brain imaging to examine driving-like behaviors in a laboratory setting.

"We've heard the expression: 'If only we could get inside their head,'" Young said. "For those of us trying to determine why drivers make certain mistakes, or the effects of outside influences such as cell phone use or medication on driving, this research allows us, in effect, to get inside a driver's head."

"But before we can learn how these situations affect drivers' brains, we have to know what's considered normal so we have something to compare it to."

The team used functional (real-time) magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at Wayne State and magnetoencephalography (MEG) at Henry Ford to determine where and when areas of the brain were activated when a test subject viewed a driving video and stepped on a brake pedal when cued by a light. Human factors safety researchers consider this an established driver performance test.

In the next phase of research, the team is studying how cell phone use while driving affects brain activity. The work began in January and will continue through 2005. It is being funded by a grant from the Crash Avoidance Metrics Partnership, an industry and federal government consortium.

"Driving is a complex activity that involves cognitive processes such as planning, decision-making and memory," Young said. "Brain imaging offers a promising way to determine how the brain manages these activities, individually and in sync with one another to better understand the act of driving, how it affects the driver, and ways to help motorists keep their minds on the driving task."

It could help researchers explain, for example, why a driver hits another vehicle from behind even when looking at it, a common occurrence referred to as "look but did not see."

"More than 90 percent of crashes are caused by driver error, yet we really don't know exactly what inside the brain causes it," Young said. "This work may help us better understand the physiological basis for many of these errors and how to manage them with education, product design guidelines and testing."