title: Brain activity during driving with distraction: an immersive fMRI study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Non-invasive measurements of brain activity have an important role to play in understanding driving ability. The current study aimed to identify the neural underpinnings of human driving behavior by visualizing the areas of the brain involved in driving under different levels of demand, such as driving while distracted or making left turns at busy intersections.
  
  
  METHODS
  To capture brain activity during driving, we placed a driving simulator with a fully functional steering wheel and pedals in a 3.0 Tesla functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) system. To identify the brain areas involved while performing different real-world driving maneuvers, participants completed tasks ranging from simple (right turns) to more complex (left turns at busy intersections). To assess the effects of driving while distracted, participants were asked to perform an auditory task while driving analogous to speaking on a hands-free device and driving.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A widely distributed brain network was identified, especially when making left turns at busy intersections compared to more simple driving tasks. During distracted driving, brain activation shifted dramatically from the posterior, visual and spatial areas to the prefrontal cortex.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings suggest that the distracted brain sacrificed areas in the posterior brain important for visual attention and alertness to recruit enough brain resources to perform a secondary, cognitive task. The present findings offer important new insights into the scientific understanding of the neuro-cognitive mechanisms of driving behavior and lay down an important foundation for future clinical research.
authors: Keenan Research Centre of the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael's Hospital Toronto, ON, Canada ; Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Division of Neurosurgery, University of Toronto Toronto, ON, Canada ; Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors: Tom A
authors: TA
authors: Schweizer
authors: Karen
authors: K
authors: Kan
authors: Yuwen
authors: Y
authors: Hung
authors: Fred
authors: F
authors: Tam
authors: Gary
authors: G
authors: Naglie
authors: Simon J
authors: SJ
authors: Graham
keywords: driving; driving complexity; driving distractions; fMRI; neural correlates of driving