When a ball unexpectedly rolls out into the street, are you as fast to brake as you used to be? Do you always notice that car speeding up from behind when you change lanes on the highway? Driving safely requires that you respond quickly to various spatial and visual cues. But over time, it's only natural that your driving skills may become a little dulled. To sharpen your performance and drive smart on the road, you may need some brain training.
"I liken our minds to computers, and our internal mental processing speeds slow down with age," says Jerri Edwards, Ph.D., an associate professor at the University of South Florida's School of Aging Studies. "But brain exercises can definitely help your driving ability."
Edwards's research has shown that specific brain exercises can improve cognitive abilities, which can in turn lead to better driving skills. Some of these beneficial exercises are found in the computer software program DriveSharp (positscience.com/thehartford). The software's interactive activities have been proved to help drivers lower their crash risk by up to 50 percent. Recommended by traffic safety experts, DriveSharp's games focus on your ability to divide your attention and keep track of multiple moving items, improve your visual processing, speed up your reaction time, and heighten your "useful field of view," or UFOV. In the Road Tour game, for example, images of different vehicles are quickly flashed on the screen. Participants are asked to identify the type of vehicle you've seen and its position. Research has shown this type of UFOV testing to be so effective that some state motor vehicle departments are using it as part of their vision exams.
For the best brainpower boosting results, experts recommend doing the DriveSharp exercises for a total of at least 10 hours. The goal is to be able to quicken your response time each session.
Will other brain exercises help you become a better driver? That depends, says Edwards. Doing crossword puzzles may enhance your knowledge of words and help ward off dementia, she says, but won't increase the mental agility needed specifically for driving. But other activities can be helpful.
"Studies show that physical exercise can enhance cognitive abilities," says Edwards. "And there is some evidence that playing video and computer games can improve UFOV among young adults and probably older adults as well." A study from the University of Florida found that the games Tetris and Medal of Honor heightened players' driving skills and visual attention.
Two other activities that may increase your ability to think fast and drive smart:
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