Health & Medicine
Talking on a Hands Free While Driving Leads to Increase in Errors
Benita Matilda
First Posted: May 25, 2013 04:13 AM EDT
A new research from the University of Alberta states that talking on a hands free while driving leads to an increase in blunders that could put other drivers on road at risk.
A pilot study showed that drivers who talked on hands free cellular devices made major driving mistakes when compared to just driving alone. Some of the driving errors included crossing the centre line, speeding and switching lanes without proper indication. The rise in the number of errors corresponded with a spike in heart and brain activity.
This study was conducted by Yagesh Bhambhani, a professor in the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine, and his graduate student Mayank Rehani.
The researchers focused on this subject as a topic of research in 2009 after Alberta introduced legislation banning the use of handheld cell phones while driving but not hands free devices. For this study the researchers studied the brain activity of 26 participants with the help of near infrared spectroscopy. These participants had also completed a driving course using Virage VS500M driving simulator at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital.
With the help of near infrared spectroscopy the researchers could examine the real time changes occurring in the brain activity in the left prefrontal lobe. Initially the participants were tested in a control condition using a simulator to drive in city conditions with no telecommunication devices. Later they were again tested on a hand free device during a two minute conversation that avoided emotionally charged topics.
The researchers noticed that there was a significant rise in the brain activity while the participants were talking on a hands free device when compared to the control condition. Most of them showed an increase in oxyhemoglobin in the brain and a fall in deoxyhemoglobin simultaneously. This showed an enhanced neuronal activation during hands free telecommunication.
"The findings also indicated that blood flow to the brain is significantly increased during hands-free telecommunication in order to meet the oxygen demands of the neurons under the 'distracted' condition," said Bhambhani in a press statement.
This study does not show an association between enhanced neuronal activation and the increase in the number of driving errors.
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First Posted: May 25, 2013 04:13 AM EDT
A new research from the University of Alberta states that talking on a hands free while driving leads to an increase in blunders that could put other drivers on road at risk.
A pilot study showed that drivers who talked on hands free cellular devices made major driving mistakes when compared to just driving alone. Some of the driving errors included crossing the centre line, speeding and switching lanes without proper indication. The rise in the number of errors corresponded with a spike in heart and brain activity.
This study was conducted by Yagesh Bhambhani, a professor in the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine, and his graduate student Mayank Rehani.
The researchers focused on this subject as a topic of research in 2009 after Alberta introduced legislation banning the use of handheld cell phones while driving but not hands free devices. For this study the researchers studied the brain activity of 26 participants with the help of near infrared spectroscopy. These participants had also completed a driving course using Virage VS500M driving simulator at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital.
With the help of near infrared spectroscopy the researchers could examine the real time changes occurring in the brain activity in the left prefrontal lobe. Initially the participants were tested in a control condition using a simulator to drive in city conditions with no telecommunication devices. Later they were again tested on a hand free device during a two minute conversation that avoided emotionally charged topics.
The researchers noticed that there was a significant rise in the brain activity while the participants were talking on a hands free device when compared to the control condition. Most of them showed an increase in oxyhemoglobin in the brain and a fall in deoxyhemoglobin simultaneously. This showed an enhanced neuronal activation during hands free telecommunication.
"The findings also indicated that blood flow to the brain is significantly increased during hands-free telecommunication in order to meet the oxygen demands of the neurons under the 'distracted' condition," said Bhambhani in a press statement.
This study does not show an association between enhanced neuronal activation and the increase in the number of driving errors.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone