AUTHOR=Oba Kentaro , Hamada Koji , Tanabe-Ishibashi Azumi , Murase Fumihiko , Hirose Masaaki , Kawashima Ryuta , Sugiura Motoaki TITLE=Neural Correlates Predicting Lane-Keeping and Hazard Detection: An fMRI Study Featuring a Pedestrian-Rich Simulator Environment JOURNAL=Frontiers in Human Neuroscience VOLUME=16 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/human-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2022.754379 DOI=10.3389/fnhum.2022.754379 ISSN=1662-5161 ABSTRACT=

Distracted attention is considered responsible for most car accidents, and many functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) researchers have addressed its neural correlates using a car-driving simulator. Previous studies, however, have not directly addressed safe driving performance and did not place pedestrians in the simulator environment. In this fMRI study, we simulated a pedestrian-rich environment to explore the neural correlates of three types of safe driving performance: accurate lane-keeping during driving (driving accuracy), the braking response to a preceding car, and the braking response to a crossing pedestrian. Activation of the bilateral frontoparietal control network predicted high driving accuracy. On the other hand, activation of the left posterior and right anterior superior temporal sulci preceding a sudden pedestrian crossing predicted a slow braking response. The results suggest the involvement of different cognitive processes in different components of driving safety: the facilitatory effect of maintained attention on driving accuracy and the distracting effect of social–cognitive processes on the braking response to pedestrians.