Detecting and Quantifying Mind Wandering during Simulated Driving

Abstract

Mind wandering is a pervasive threat to transportation safety, potentially accounting for a substantial number of crashes and fatalities. In the current study, mind wandering was induced through completion of the same task for 5 days, consisting of a 20-min monotonous freeway-driving scenario, a cognitive depletion task, and a repetition of the 20-min driving scenario driven in the reverse direction. Participants were periodically probed with auditory tones to self-report whether they were mind wandering or focused on the driving task. Self-reported mind wandering frequency was high, and did not statistically change over days of participation. For measures of driving performance, participant labeled periods of mind wandering were associated with reduced speed and reduced lane variability, in comparison to periods of on task performance. For measures of electrophysiology, periods of mind wandering were associated with increased power in the alpha band of the electroencephalogram (EEG), as well as a reduction in the magnitude of the P3a component of the event related potential (ERP) in response to the auditory probe. Results support that mind wandering has an impact on driving performance and the associated change in driver’s attentional state is detectable in underlying brain physiology. Further, results suggest that detecting the internal cognitive state of humans is possible in a continuous task such as automobile driving. Identifying periods of likely mind wandering could serve as a useful research tool for assessment of driver attention, and could potentially lead to future in-vehicle safety countermeasures.

The Electrophysiological Signature of Mind Wandering

“…They found the spectral power in the theta and alpha band to be decreased compared to segments preceding correct trials. Baldwin et al (2017), however, found an increase of alpha power during mind wandering at parietal electrodes using the probe-caught assessment method during simulated driving as well as during a vigilance task. Similar results could be observed by Compton et al (2019), who also found increased alpha power in episodes preceding reports of mind wandering during a Stroop task.…”

Distinct neural markers for intentional and unintentional task unrelated thought

“…Interestingly, electrophysiological evidence across these studies seem to suggest that early perceptual components are only sensitive to modulation with respect to primary task stimuli 36,39,43 . ERPs of secondary task or control stimuli which are outside of the immediate spotlight of attention such as SSVEP 44 or auditory probes 37,45 were not modulated by attentional states. Given that early sensory components are known to be modulated top-down by attention 46 , these findings seem to suggest that the mechanisms of perceptual decoupling are engaged in a top-down manner when the sensory input represents a potential threat to the integrity of the current train of thought.…”

“…In this past decade, the electrophysiological dynamics underlying periods of on-and off-task thought has been the object of numerous studies linking perceptual decoupling with characteristic changes in the time and frequency domain of the EEG. One consistent finding is that cortical processing of perceptual input, as measured by electrophysiological indices, is transiently dampened during off-task mental activity 26,[36][37][38][39] . An effect that seems to support the idea that the ability to engage in off-task thought hinges on the capacity to decouple attention from the external environment in favor of internal thought processes.…”

How sleep problems contribute to simulator sickness: Preliminary results from a realistic driving scenario

“…The results of the current study are particularly strong as they were assessed when participants were driving a realistic scenario. Currently most studies only use scenarios in which participants drive a straight road without height differences, windings or changes in scenery (Baldwin et al., ; Bragg, Desbrow, Hall, & Irwin, ; Verster et al., ). We performed the experiment in a real car and a submerged environment while presenting country roads, highways and city roads to the driver.…”

“…Currently most studies only use scenarios in which participants drive a straight road without height differences, windings or changes in scenery (Baldwin et al, 2017;Bragg, Desbrow, Hall, & Irwin, 2017;Verster et al, 2014). We performed the experiment in a real car and a submerged environment while presenting country roads, highways Next to a clinical interview, levels of depression were assessed by the BDI, levels of anxiety by the BAI, sleep problems by the PSQI, and insomnia severity by the ISI.…”