Citation

Scally K, Charlton JL, Iansek R, Bradshaw JL, Moss S, Georgiou-Karistianis N. Parkinsons Dis. 2011; 2011(online): 159621.

Affiliation

Experimental Neuropsychology Research Unit, School of Psychology and Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Clayton Campus, VIC 3800, Australia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.4061/2011/159621

PMID

21789275

PMCID

PMC3140707

Abstract

This study sought to investigate the impact of external cue validity on simulated driving performance in 19 Parkinson's disease (PD) patients and 19 healthy age-matched controls. Braking points and distance between deceleration point and braking point were analysed for red traffic signals preceded either by Valid Cues (correctly predicting signal), Invalid Cues (incorrectly predicting signal), and No Cues. Results showed that PD drivers braked significantly later and travelled significantly further between deceleration and braking points compared with controls for Invalid and No-Cue conditions. No significant group differences were observed for driving performance in response to Valid Cues. The benefit of Valid Cues relative to Invalid Cues and No Cues was significantly greater for PD drivers compared with controls. Trail Making Test (B-A) scores correlated with driving performance for PDs only. These results highlight the importance of external cues and higher cognitive functioning for driving performance in mild to moderate PD.

Language: en