Effect of sleep deprivation and driving duration on the useful visual field in younger and older subjects during simulator driving

Abstract

Nine older subjects (40-51 years) and 10 younger subjects (18-30 years) took part in two one-hour driving sessions. They performed a very monotonous task during which they had to follow a vehicle either after a complete night of sleep or after one night of sleep deprivation. While driving their useful visual field was assessed by introducing signals that would appear on the whole road scene. The analysis of the data indicates that the ability to process peripheral signals deteriorates with age, driving duration and sleep deprivation. However, the effects of these three variables on the peripheral visual ability are not similar in a dual task. The driver's useful visual field changes with age and prolongation of the monotonous driving activity according to a tunnel vision phenomenon. On the other hand, a sleep debt deteriorates the useful visual field according to a general interference phenomenon. These results are discussed in terms of decrease in the level of arousal and increase of fatigue.

Consequences of sleep deprivation

“…Visual disruption initially results in the tunnel vision [60], but may affect the centre of the visual field as well, if the period of sleep deprivation is long [61,62]. The number of visual errors and hallucinations increases with the duration of wakefulness.…”

“…After one night of sleeplessness, the ability to simultaneously perceive stimuli both in the central and peripheral areas of the visual field is impaired and the deficit intensifies with the driving time, but is also age-dependent. While long-lasting and monotonous driving makes the visual field more narrow, intense drowsiness causes deficits within the whole field [61]. Sleep restriction increases the rate of risky behaviour, due to impaired ability to assess a situation [152], and of aggressive behaviour as well [120].…”

Objective and Subjective Sizes of the Effective Visual Field during Game Playing Measured by the Gaze-contingent Window Method

“…The spatial range of a visual field associated with particular perceptual and cognitive tasks is called an effective visual filed, a useful field of view, or a perceptual span [16][17][18]. Some studies have estimated the effective visual field of video-game players by using a dual task paradigm in which participants were asked to identify a letter presented in the central visual field while localizing a small flash presented in the peripheral visual field [5][6][7][8].…”

“…However, it remains unclear whether an effective visual field estimated by objective measures, for example, game scores, would be different from that estimated by subjective measures, for example, subjective reports of players. Previous studies measured the effective visual field by using game scores [19,20]; however, this type of measurement takes a relatively long time, and as a result, the derived size of the effective visual field may be affected by fatigue [18]. If the players accurately recognize their size of effective visual field while playing video games, then the effective visual field can be measured quickly by asking participants about the subjective difficulty of playing with a restricting window.…”

Probe Reaction Time Changes with Fatigue Induced by Climbing Up- and -Down Stairs

“…Cognitive functioning is affected by physical exhaustion 8) . There is also research on psychological fatigue, for example, sleep deprivation 9) . Psychological state affects performance of a dual-task.…”