The Neurobiology of Driving

Understanding the Brain: The Neurobiology of Everyday Life

Final Project

By KC Ruano

How much does our brain have to work when we go out for a drive?

For those with even few years of experience, driving can seem like a mindless activity; something we do on a daily basis without much effort.

It’s so easy, some people can even hold a conversation and listen to music while they’re at it (some even dare take out their phones to text!).

So really, how much activity could we find in our brain if we could take an fMRI machine with us to have it scanned while we go out for a ride?

Parts of the Nervous System that are Active During Driving• The Eye and Visual Cortex

The eye and its millions of photosensitive nerve cells create the electric impulses that the brain will take to create the visual images that we see when we are at the wheel, such as the road, the traffic lights, and the rest of the cars.

These signals travel through the optic nerve, which is part of the central nervous system, through the optic chiasm, thalamus, and into the visual cortices of the occipital lobes at the back of the brain. This process is what we know as perception.

It is in the different areas of the occipital lobe in which the most complex part of this process takes place, for it is where the information in the electric signals is decoded in order to build the images as we know them, with a specific orientation, shape, color, and depth. It is also thanks to the occipital lobe that we can know if another car, for example, is moving and in which direction.

Areas of the Visual Cortex

Area Function

V1 Register visual stimuli

V2 Transmit information

V3 Detect orientation and angles

V4 Combine movement and direction

V5 Distinguish color

V6 Claculate depth

• The Peripheral Nervous System and Primary Motor Cortex

Through this vast network made up of 12 pairs of cranial nerves and 31 pairs of spinal nerves, the brain can send to the rest of the body electrical impulses containing information that tells it what to do. For example, hitting the break pedal when the traffic light is red.

Every action that involves movement activates the primary motor cortex, which sends signals to the muscles through the spinal chord and motor neurons in order for them to contract.

But hold on a minute, how does the brain even know what to do once it gets the information? How does it know it has to push the break once it has seen the traffic light go red? Well, actually, there are 2 ways in which the brain can decide how to act when it comes to movement: through conscious planning, or unconscious planning (otherwise known as reflex).

When an act of movement is consciously planned it takes place in the frontal areas of the brain – the premotor, supplementary, and prefrontal cortices – which are in charge of complex or executive functions such as strategic thinking and decision making.

On the other hand, many actions are completed without notice. Many of these type of actions are known as reflexes, such as blinking, breathing, swallowing, etc., which are regulated by the autonomic nervous system.

However, many other of these actions that we are able to perform unconsciously are far more complex than that. In fact, they even start out as conscious actions when we first learn how to do them, but through practice and repetition we are able to get better at them until they come out naturally.

These are known as automatisms, actions planned and processed by the parietal lobe and cerebellum without the need to involve the frontal lobes. Some examples would be getting dressed, brushing our teeth, eating, writing, and well, yes, of course – driving (which is why we are able to pay attention to many other things while we are at the wheel).

When something goes wrong

So now that we know which parts of the brain and nervous system are most involved while driving, we can list a few examples common medical conditions that can greatly diminish our ability to go behind the wheel, including visual impairment or motor disorders:

• Alcoholism/Drug Abuse

• Epilepsy/Seizures

• Macular Degeneration (both eyes)

• Motor Neuron Disease

• Narcolepsy

• Parkinson’s Disease

Ways in which this course has allowed me to better analyze the events and phenomena around me

• As a psychology student, this course has allowed me to have a better and deeper understanding of the inner workings of the mind which regulate behavior, emotions, and all the traits characteristic of not just human beings but all living organisms advanced enough to have a nervous system.

• As an ordinary person, this course has provided a window – or more like a microscope – into the one thing that allows us human beings to live and exist and communicate and learn, which we often take for granted. Learning about neurobiology is like cracking up the HTML code that makes up our favorite websites which we browse without giving a second thought about what makes it possible to be there or how it works.

• From something simple like reaching out to grab a cup of coffee to something not quite so simple – like driving, this course has taught me that neurobiology is everywhere and always, in each and every activity we perform and even when we are doing absolutely nothing. Our brain and nervous system is always there and always busy in our every day life.

Thank you, Profesor Mason.It’s been a fantastic course.