Introduction: Driving motor vehicles is a complex task that depends heavily on how visual stimuli are received and subsequently processed by the brain. The potential impact of distraction on driving performance is well known and poses a safety concern – especially for individuals with cognitive impairments who may be clinically unfit to drive. The present study is the first to combine functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and eye-tracking during simulated driving with distraction, providing oculomotor metrics to enhance scientific understanding of the brain activity that supports driving performance. Materials and Methods: As initial work, twelve healthy young, right-handed participants performed turns ranging in complexity, including simple right and left turns without oncoming traffic, and left turns with oncoming traffic. Distraction was introduced as an auditory task during straight driving, and during left turns with oncoming traffic. Eye-tracking data were recorded during fMRI to characterize fixations, saccades, pupil diameter and blink rate. Results: Brain activation maps for right turns, left turns without oncoming traffic, left turns with oncoming traffic, and the distraction conditions were largely consistent with previous literature reporting the neural correlates of simulated driving. When the effects of distraction were evaluated for left turns with oncoming traffic, increased activation was observed in areas involved in executive function (e.g. middle and inferior frontal gyri) as well as decreased activation in the posterior brain (e.g. middle and superior occipital gyri). Whereas driving performance remained unchanged (e.g. turn speed, time to turn, collisions), the oculomotor measures showed that distraction resulted in more consistent gaze at oncoming traffic in a small area of the visual scene; less time spent gazing at off-road targets (e.g. speedometer, rear-view mirror); more time spent performing saccadic eye movements; and decreased blink rate. Conclusions: Oculomotor behaviour modulated with driving task complexity and distraction in a manner consistent with the brain activation features revealed by fMRI. The results suggest that eye-tracking technology should be included in future fMRI studies of simulated driving behaviour in targeted populations, such as the elderly and individuals with cognitive complaints – ultimately towards developing better technology to assess and enhance fitness to drive.

中文翻译：

---

分心驾驶：使用 fMRI 和眼动追踪测量大脑活动和动眼神经行为

简介：驾驶机动车辆是一项复杂的任务，很大程度上取决于大脑如何接收和处理视觉刺激。分心对驾驶性能的潜在影响是众所周知的，并且会带来安全问题——尤其是对于临床上可能不适合驾驶的认知障碍人士。本研究首次将功能性磁共振成像 (fMRI) 和模拟驾驶过程中的眼动追踪与分心相结合，提供动眼神经指标以增强对支持驾驶性能的大脑活动的科学理解。材料和方法：作为初始工作，12 名健康的年轻、惯用右手的参与者进行了复杂程度不等的转弯，包括在没有迎面而来的车辆的情况下进行简单的右转和左转，以及在有迎面而来的车辆的情况下左转。在直行期间和在迎面而来的车辆左转期间，分心作为一项听觉任务被引入。在 fMRI 期间记录眼动追踪数据以表征注视、扫视、瞳孔直径和眨眼率。结果：右转、没有迎面而来的车辆的左转、有迎面而来的车辆的左转以及分心条件的大脑激活图与之前报道的模拟驾驶的神经相关性的文献基本一致。当分心对迎面而来的车辆左转的影响进行评估时，观察到涉及执行功能的区域（例如中额和下额回）的激活增加，而后脑（例如枕中回和上回）的激活减少。鉴于驾驶性能保持不变（例如转弯速度、转弯时间、碰撞），动眼神经测量表明，分心导致在视觉场景的一小块区域内对迎面而来的车辆进行更一致的注视；减少注视越野目标（例如车速表、后视镜）的时间；花费更多时间进行眼跳；并降低眨眼率。结论：动眼神经行为随着驾驶任务的复杂性和分心而调节，其方式与 fMRI 揭示的大脑激活特征一致。结果表明，眼动追踪技术应纳入未来针对目标人群（例如老年人和有认知问题的个人）的模拟驾驶行为的 fMRI 研究中——最终开发更好的技术来评估和增强驾驶适应性。动眼神经测量表明，分心导致在视觉场景的一小块区域内对迎面而来的车辆进行更一致的注视；减少注视越野目标（例如车速表、后视镜）的时间；花费更多时间进行眼跳；并降低眨眼率。结论：动眼神经行为随着驾驶任务的复杂性和分心而调节，其方式与 fMRI 揭示的大脑激活特征一致。结果表明，眼动追踪技术应纳入未来针对目标人群（例如老年人和有认知问题的个人）模拟驾驶行为的 fMRI 研究中——最终开发更好的技术来评估和增强驾驶适应性。动眼神经测量表明，分心导致在视觉场景的一小块区域内对迎面而来的车辆进行更一致的注视；减少注视越野目标（例如车速表、后视镜）的时间；花费更多时间进行眼跳；并降低眨眼率。结论：动眼神经行为随着驾驶任务的复杂性和分心而调节，其方式与 fMRI 揭示的大脑激活特征一致。结果表明，眼动追踪技术应纳入未来针对目标人群（例如老年人和有认知问题的个人）模拟驾驶行为的 fMRI 研究中——最终开发更好的技术来评估和增强驾驶适应性。减少注视越野目标（例如车速表、后视镜）的时间；花费更多时间进行眼跳；并降低眨眼率。结论：动眼神经行为随着驾驶任务的复杂性和分心而调节，其方式与 fMRI 揭示的大脑激活特征一致。结果表明，眼动追踪技术应纳入未来针对目标人群（例如老年人和有认知问题的个人）模拟驾驶行为的 fMRI 研究中——最终开发更好的技术来评估和增强驾驶适应性。减少注视越野目标（例如车速表、后视镜）的时间；花费更多时间进行眼跳；并降低眨眼率。结论：动眼神经行为随着驾驶任务的复杂性和分心而调节，其方式与 fMRI 揭示的大脑激活特征一致。结果表明，眼动追踪技术应纳入未来针对目标人群（例如老年人和有认知问题的个人）模拟驾驶行为的 fMRI 研究中——最终开发更好的技术来评估和增强驾驶适应性。动眼神经行为以与 fMRI 揭示的大脑激活特征一致的方式随着驾驶任务的复杂性和分心进行调节。结果表明，眼动追踪技术应纳入未来针对目标人群（例如老年人和有认知问题的个人）模拟驾驶行为的 fMRI 研究中——最终开发更好的技术来评估和增强驾驶适应性。动眼神经行为以与 fMRI 揭示的大脑激活特征一致的方式随着驾驶任务的复杂性和分心进行调节。结果表明，眼动追踪技术应纳入未来针对目标人群（例如老年人和有认知问题的个人）模拟驾驶行为的 fMRI 研究中——最终开发更好的技术来评估和增强驾驶适应性。