Abstract

Executive Functions and Driving.

Study in Normal Aging and in Alzheimer’s disease.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the particular role played by the executive functioning in the driving activity. The objectives of this research were indeed to study how the executive functions would evolve in normal cognitive aging and in the early stages of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), and then to study how these evolutions can be evaluated in driving situations. This study took place in the theoretical frame suggested by Miyake et al. (2000). Indeed, our methodology consisted in a neuropsychological evaluation of three executive components, mental flexibility, updating and inhibition. This neuropsychological evaluation was combined with an experiment in a driving simulator. We developed four driving scenarios Each one evaluated one of the three executive components and the fourth one was a natural driving situation, with left turning intersections. However, in reality, this situation of left turning is a situation which is particularly dangerous for older drivers.

The results indicated that the three executive components did not change in a similar way in normal aging, which would preserve for a certain time the mental flexibility. In AD, the three executive components were impaired. In addition, the driving experiments indicated similar and correlated results to those obtained with the neuropsychological evaluations. The driving situations developed in the simulator are thus relevant for the evaluation of the three executive components in an ecological manner. Lastly, the results of the fourth driving experiment showed that the executive components are essential to drive safely. Finally, this study offers future research possibilities concerning the improvement of our knowledge on driving cognitive functioning. Interesting prospects are also offered concerning the possibilities, not only for evaluation, but also for driving readaptation.

Keywords  : Aging – Alzheimer’s Disease – Executive Functions – Miyake’s Model – Driving – Driving Simulator