Cerebral Blood Flow Velocity and Subjective State as Indices of Resource Utilization during Sustained Driving

Abstract

Recent studies from our laboratory have shown that the vigilance decrement, the decline in signal detection over time that typifies vigilance performance, is accompanied by a decline in Cerebral Blood Flow Velocity (CBFV) measured by transcranial Doppler ultrasonography and by an increase in stress measured by the Dundee Stress State Questionnaire (DSSQ). These studies were restricted to single vigilance tasks. In operational settings, such as driving, vigilance is often combined with other task components. Therefore, the aim for the present study was to generalize the findings from the earlier studies to a simulated driving task. As in the earlier studies, temporal declines in performance efficiency, indexed in this case by variability in lateral position, were accompanied by declines in CBFV and increased feelings of distress and task disengagment on the DSSQ. The results suggest that resource utilization patterns found with single vigilance tasks may extend to dynamic performance situations in which vigilance is one of several task elements.

Active and passive fatigue in simulated driving: Discriminating styles of workload regulation and their safety impacts.

“…In defense of the present method, patterns of subjective response do not differ greatly from those seen in longer-duration real driving (Desmond & Matthews, 2009). Indeed, the manipulations seem effective in producing rapid state change Reinerman, Warm, Matthews, and Langheim (2008). showed that a 36-min monotonous simulated drive produced declines in cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFV) indicative of loss of alertness.…”

“…However, performance monitoring during the fatigue induction would add to understanding of safety impacts. Future studies might use a secondary detection or memory task to assess attention during the induction period, or monitor alertness using psychophysiological indices (Craig & Tran, 2012; Reinerman et al, 2008). …”

“…Indeed, the manipulations seem effective in producing rapid state change. Reinerman, Warm, Matthews, and Langheim (2008) showed that a 36-min monotonous simulated drive produced declines in cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFV) indicative of loss of alertness.…”

Task engagement, cerebral blood flow velocity, and diagnostic monitoring for sustained attention.

“…Subjective engagement during driving correlates with driver performance, indexed by a measure of lateral positional variability (Funke, Matthews, Warm, & Emo, 2007). A recent study showed concurrent declines in performance and bilateral TCD during a fatiguing drive (Reinerman, Warm, Matthews, & Langheim, 2008). The diagnostic test battery may be useful for evaluating driver alertness prior to a prolonged drive.…”