Pre-Frontal Cortex Activity of Male Drivers in the Presence of Passengers During Simulated Driving: An Exploratory Functional Near- Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) Study

A Methodological Review of fNIRS in Driving Research: Relevance to the Future of Autonomous Vehicles

“…The majority of studies included here were conducted in a simulator setting, with only nine occurring in an on-road environment ( Harada et al, 2007 ; Shimizu T. et al, 2011 ; Yoshino et al, 2013a , b ; Inoue et al, 2014 ; Orino et al, 2015 , 2017 ; Liu et al, 2017 ; Le et al, 2018 ). However, as described above, the quality of the simulators (e.g., fidelity of the visual environment, amount of visual field encompassed, realism of the simulator to a real automobile) varied between low fidelity desktop computer setups ( Shang et al, 2007 ; Li et al, 2009 , 2018 ; Tomioka et al, 2009 ; Liu, 2014 ; Khan and Hong, 2015 ; Pradhan et al, 2015 ; Unni et al, 2015 ; Ahn et al, 2016 ; Horrey et al, 2017 ; Nguyen et al, 2017 ; Xu G. et al, 2017 ; Xu L. et al, 2017 ; Hidalgo-Munoz et al, 2019 ; Khan et al, 2019 ; Lin et al, 2019 ; Tanveer et al, 2019 ) and more immersive simulated environments ( Nakano et al, 2013 ; Oka et al, 2015 ; FakhrHosseini et al, 2015 ; Foy et al, 2016 ; Foy and Chapman, 2018 ; Huve et al, 2018 , 2019 ; Sturman and Wiggins, 2019 ; Yamamoto et al, 2019 ) including large-scale simulators that comprise a real car mock-up along with a wide field of vision ( Tsunashima and Yanagisawa, 2009 ; Shimizu et al, 2009 ; Orino et al, 2015 ; Nosrati et al, 2016 ; Sibi et al, 2016 , 2017 ; Balters et al, 2017 ; Unni et al, 2017 ; Bruno et al, 2018 ; Chuang et al, 2018 ; Ihme et al, 2018 ; Zhu et al, 2019 ). To minimize motion artifacts, participants in eight studies were specifically instructed to avoid head (and limb) movements ( Li et al, 2009 ; Takahashi et al, 2010 ...…”

“…Only 75% (36 studies) reported the range, mean, and standard deviation of participant ages. Six studies reported solely a vague age range (e.g., “in their 20s”) ( Shimizu et al, 2009 ; Tsunashima and Yanagisawa, 2009 ; Takahashi et al, 2010 ; Pradhan et al, 2015 ; Nguyen et al, 2017 ; Chuang et al, 2018 ), and the remaining six studies did not report participants’ ages at all ( Nakano et al, 2013 ; Oka et al, 2015 ; Unni et al, 2015 ; Huve et al, 2018 , 2019 ; Yamamoto et al, 2019 ). Only 18 studies reported driver statistics such as total number of years of driving and frequency of driving ( Harada et al, 2007 ; Tomioka et al, 2009 ; Yoshino et al, 2013a , b ; Oka et al, 2015 ; Orino et al, 2015 , 2017 ; Pradhan et al, 2015 ; Foy et al, 2016 ; Nosrati et al, 2016 ; Xu G. et al, 2017 ; Bruno et al, 2018 ; Foy and Chapman, 2018 ; Li et al, 2018 ; Le et al, 2018 ; Hidalgo-Munoz et al, 2019 ; Scheunemann et al, 2019 ; Sturman and Wiggins, 2019 ).…”

“…Six studies reported solely a vague age range (e.g., “in their 20s”) ( Shimizu et al, 2009 ; Tsunashima and Yanagisawa, 2009 ; Takahashi et al, 2010 ; Pradhan et al, 2015 ; Nguyen et al, 2017 ; Chuang et al, 2018 ), and the remaining six studies did not report participants’ ages at all ( Nakano et al, 2013 ; Oka et al, 2015 ; Unni et al, 2015 ; Huve et al, 2018 , 2019 ; Yamamoto et al, 2019 ). Only 18 studies reported driver statistics such as total number of years of driving and frequency of driving ( Harada et al, 2007 ; Tomioka et al, 2009 ; Yoshino et al, 2013a , b ; Oka et al, 2015 ; Orino et al, 2015 , 2017 ; Pradhan et al, 2015 ; Foy et al, 2016 ; Nosrati et al, 2016 ; Xu G. et al, 2017 ; Bruno et al, 2018 ; Foy and Chapman, 2018 ; Li et al, 2018 ; Le et al, 2018 ; Hidalgo-Munoz et al, 2019 ; Scheunemann et al, 2019 ; Sturman and Wiggins, 2019 ). With respect to gender, eight studies did not report participants’ gender distribution ( Li et al, 2009 ; Unni et al, 2015 ; Foy et al, 2016 ; Xu L. et al, 2017 ; Chuang et al, 2018 ; Huve et al, 2018 , 2019 ; Khan et al, 2019 ), 12 studies examined exclusively male participants ( Shang et al, 2007 ; Shimizu et al, 2009 ; Shimizu T. et al, 2011 ; Tomioka et al, 2009 ; Tsunashima and Yanagisawa, 2009 ; Nakano et al, 2013 ; Inoue et al, 2014 ; Khan and Hong, 2015 ; Pradhan et al, 2015 ; Liu et al, 2017 ; Ihme et al, 2018 ; Tanveer et al, 2019 ), and for the remaining 28 studies, the ratio of female to male participants ranged from 10 to 69%, with an average of M ...…”

“…Among the papers reviewed here, 23 did not report information regarding the driving familiarization task used. Participants were allowed to experience the driving environment (simulated or on-road) within 18 studies ( Li et al, 2009 ; Shimizu et al, 2009 ; Liu, 2014 ; Khan and Hong, 2015 ; Pradhan et al, 2015 ; Oka et al, 2015 ; Ahn et al, 2016 ; Foy et al, 2016 ; Sibi et al, 2016 ; Horrey et al, 2017 ; Chuang et al, 2018 ; Ihme et al, 2018 ; Yamamoto et al, 2018 , 2019 ; Khan et al, 2019 ; Lin et al, 2019 ; Sturman and Wiggins, 2019 ; Tanveer et al, 2019 ), and seven studies allowed participants to familiarize themselves with the driving environment and task-related stimuli ( Tsunashima and Yanagisawa, 2009 ; Yoshino et al, 2013a , b ; Unni et al, 2015 ; Balters et al, 2017 ; Sibi et al, 2017 ; Scheunemann et al, 2019 ). Only four studies reported a physiological baseline task (i.e., task designed to allow participants’ cortical activity to settle into a resting level), including sitting quietly with or without eyes open for a period of 2 min ( Zhu et al, 2019 ), 5 min ( Li et al, 2018 ), 10 min ( Li et al, 2009 ), or 20 min ( Xu G. et al, 2017 ).…”

Pilot Efficacy of a DriveFocus™ Intervention on the Driving Performance of Young Drivers

“…In the United States alone, one-third of all youth deaths are attributed to road traffic injuries ( 2 ). The overrepresentation of youth in road traffic injuries and fatalities has been attributed to multiple factors including: brain maturation and risk-taking behaviors ( 3 , 4 ), inexperience ( 5 ), driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs ( 6 ), and distracted driving and hazard perception ( 7 ). National and local government agencies around the world have led efforts to curtail the impact of this public health threat through law enforcement, graduated licensing, and awareness among road users ( 1 ).…”