Monotonous driving induces shifts in spatial attention as a function of handedness - PubMed (original) (raw)
Monotonous driving induces shifts in spatial attention as a function of handedness
D Chandrakumar et al. Sci Rep. 2021.
Abstract
Current evidence suggests that the ability to detect and react to information under lowered alertness conditions might be more impaired on the left than the right side of space. This evidence derives mainly from right-handers being assessed in computer and paper-and-pencil spatial attention tasks. However, there are suggestions that left-handers might show impairments on the opposite (right) side compared to right-handers with lowered alertness, and it is unclear whether the impairments observed in the computer tasks have any real-world implications for activities such as driving. The current study investigated the alertness and spatial attention relationship under simulated monotonous driving in left- and right-handers. Twenty left-handed and 22 right-handed participants (15 males, mean age = 23.6 years, SD = 5.0 years) were assessed on a simulated driving task (lasting approximately 60 min) to induce a time-on-task effect. The driving task involved responding to stimuli appearing at six different horizontal locations on the screen, whilst driving in a 50 km/h zone. Decreases in alertness and driving performance were evident with time-on-task in both handedness groups. We found handedness impacts reacting to lateral stimuli differently with time-on-task: right-handers reacted slower to the leftmost stimuli, while left-handers showed the opposite pattern (although not statistically significant) in the second compared to first half of the drive. Our findings support suggestions that handedness modulates the spatial attention and alertness interactions. The interactions were observed in a simulated driving task which calls for further research to understand the safety implications of these interactions for activities such as driving.
Conflict of interest statement
The authors declare no competing interests.
Figures
Figure 1
Experimental set-up on a pseudoparticipant (A), and the driving course (B). The start and end of the driving course was counterbalanced to ensure the direction of the first chicane.
Figure 2
Changes in KSS (A), alpha (B), GSR (C), lane variability (D) and time spent within 10% of the speed limit (E), separated by handedness.
Figure 3
Interaction between time-on-task, stimulus location and handedness. Differences as a function of handedness and time-on-task become particularly evident in performance to the most lateral stimulus locations. (A) Reaction time pattern of left-handers with the detailing of performance at locations 1 & 6. (B) Reaction time pattern of right-handers with the detailing of performance at locations 1 & 6. Right-handers show increased reaction time to the leftmost periphery (location 1) with time-on-task. Shaded area represents 95% confidence intervals.
Figure 4
A handedness by location interaction revealed right handers show an increased number of omissions in the rightmost periphery compared to left handers. Smoothed means and shaded area representing 95% confidence intervals are displayed.
Figure 5
Spearman’s Rho correlations between physiological alertness (GSR and alpha) and reaction time to all six locations for left-handers (A) and right-handers (B). Correlations reaching significance (p < .05) are highlighted. L1 = location 1. Positive values for RT indicate slower RT in the second half than first half of drive (i.e., time-on-task), positive GSR values indicate higher SNS derived alertness with time-on-task, and positive alpha indicates higher alpha power (indicating lower alertness) with time-on-task.
References
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