Driving helps prevent cognitive decline

Research finds a benefit of staying active behind the wheel.

Those of us who drive every day don't realize the complexity of this act. This is because, over time, we drive automatically.. But driving requires a range of cognitive skills including executive functions, information processing, visual processing and memory.

We have to be aware of many stimuli at the same time, have our foot on the clutch and brake, shift gears, watch for cars passing us, etc. If it were not for the cerebellum, we would drive like novices all our lives.

Driving is good for the cognitive health of older people.

But of course, all these cognitive functions all these cognitive functions deteriorate over time.making driving difficult and dangerous. However, a recent study suggests that the cognitive demands of driving may help prevent cognitive decline caused by aging. In other words, driving may play a beneficial role in the cognitive health of seniors.

There has always been talk about how important it is for older people to stay active, but there has never been talk that driving also brings these benefits. It is clear that people who are unable to drive safely should give up picking up the keys and starting the car, but several previous studies had already shown that giving up driving is associated with a decline in emotional and physical health for older people. Now it is also associated with cognitive decline.

Study data and results

The recent study was conducted by three behavioral scientists, Moon Choi (University of Kentucky) Matthew C. Lohman (University of Kentucky), and Brian Mezuk (Virginia Commonwealth University) and their results showed that driving a vehicle helps maintain cognitive functions.

"Previous research had indicated that there is a negative association between poor cognitive functioning and driving cessation" explain Choi and colleagues. "However, our results suggest that it may also be that stopping driving is a risk factor that accelerates cognitive decline over time. This suggests that the relationship between driving cessation and cognitive functioning may be bidirectional."

Choi and coworkers analyzed data from more than 9,000 older individuals over 10 years: from 1998 to 2008.. Subjects completed a cognitive test by telephone that assessed memory, mental processing speed, level of cognition, and language. Subjects were also asked what their current driving status was, i.e., whether or not they drove, or had never driven.

The researchers found that those participants who had stopped driving showed accelerated cognitive decline during the 10 years after they stopped driving compared to active drivers.

Older people who don't drive are a group at increased risk for cognitive decline

"This study suggests that older people who are not mobile through driving are a group at increased risk for cognitive decline. Thus, they would benefit from social interventions that promote social, psychological, and cognitive engagement," the researchers argue,

Regarding this type of intervention, a team of scientists led by psychologist Jerri Edwards (University of South Florida) designed a program focused on cognitive training for elderly people who were at risk for automobile accidents and cognitive decline.

The cognitive training program

Edwards and colleagues recruited about 500 older adults (60 years and older) to participate in the trial. All participants completed a visual processing speed task in which poor performance on this task indicated an increased risk of automobile accidents. The 134 participants who received low scores on this test were randomly assigned to one of two groups: a cognitive training intervention or a control group in which they received computer training.

Participants in both interventions met with a trainer in small groups for 10 one-hour sessions.. Those in the cognitive training group completed computer exercises designed to improve information processing speed, such as identifying and locating visual (cars and trucks) and auditory objects (tone series). Participants in the computer training group completed training exercises in basic computer use, such as using e-mail.

The 366 participants who showed no signs of cognitive slowing in the visual task processing speed served as the reference group.

The follow-up phase

Three years later, a follow-up was conducted, and the researchers found that older drivers who had received the cognitive training drove at a lower risk rate. In contrast, participants who were assigned to the computer training group (or control group) experienced decreased driving, as well as increased difficulty in driving, as they reported in the post-test evaluation.

Cognitive processing speed training may not only improve cognitive performance, but may also protect against decreased mobility in the elderly," Edwards and colleagues write in their paper. Cognitive training programs, according to the science, have the potential to improve the daily lives of older people in many ways," the authors add.

There are some limitations to the study

Even so, both groups of researchers are cautious with their results and admit that there are limitations admit that there are limitations. Beyond cognitive or health problems, older people also frequently report financial difficulties as one of the reasons they stop driving.

Those living in more densely populated areas may have greater access to alternative means of transportation, and therefore may have different cognitive outcomes than older people living in more isolated or rural areas.