Driving after brain injury: Does dual-task modality matter?

Background: Virtual reality technology allows neuropsychologists to examine complex, real-world behaviors with high ecological validity and can provide an understanding of the impact of demanding dual-tasks on driving performance.

Objective: We hypothesized that a task imposing high cognitive and physical demands (coin-sorting) would result in the greatest reduction in driving maintenance performance.

Methods: Twenty participants with acquired brain injury and 28 healthy controls were included in the current study. All participants were licensed and drove regularly. Participants completed two standardized VRDS drives: (1) a baseline drive with no distractions, and (2) the same route with three, counterbalanced dual-tasks representing differing demands.

Results: A series of 3 (Task)×2 (Group) ANOVAs revealed that the ABI group tended to go slower than the HC group in the presence of a dual-task, F (1, 111) = 6.24, p = 0.01. Importantly, the ABI group also showed greater variability in speed, F (1, 110) = 10.97, p < 0.01, and lane position, F (1, 108) = 7.81, p < 0.01, an effect driven by dual-tasks with both a cognitive and motor demand.

Conclusions: These results indicate that long-term driving difficulties following ABI are subtle and likely due to reduced cognitive resources.