2009 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Ability of elderly drivers to respond risky driving situations : Using near-infrared spectroscopy
| Project/Area Number |
19591374
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Psychiatric science
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| Research Institution | Showa University |
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Principal Investigator |
MIMURA Masaru Showa University, 医学部・精神医学教室, 准教授 (00190728)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
KAWAMURA Mitsuru 昭和大学, 医学部・内科学講座神経内科部門, 教授 (20161375)
OTSUBO Tenpei (20245856)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2007 – 2009
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| Keywords | 神経科学 / 脳・神経 / 老化 / 自動車運転 / 光トポグラフィ |
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| Research Abstract |
It is important to appropriately evaluate the driving performance of elderly persons. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) was employed to investigate differences of brain function between individuals with Alzheimer's disease and healthy elderly controls while they were being tested using a driving simulator. Changes of the oxyhemoglobin level in the prefrontal areas of each subject were measured by NIRS during a driving task (collision avoidance). Compared with healthy controls, the Alzheimer's disease group showed a less prominent increase of oxyhemoglobin in the prefrontal cortex during the collision avoidance task. The correlation between delay in braking and changes of oxyhemoglobin was positive in the healthy controls and negative in the Alzheimer's disease group, suggesting that a task-related prefrontal increase of oxyhemoglobin has different implications under normal and pathological conditions. NIRS is a potentially useful tool for real-time monitoring of prefrontal activity during simulated or actual driving.
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