Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2005 Jun;76(6):764-8.
doi: 10.1136/jnnp.2004.049338.

Driver landmark and traffic sign identification in early Alzheimer's disease

E Y Uc  1 , M Rizzo, S W Anderson, Q Shi, J D Dawson
Affiliations

Driver landmark and traffic sign identification in early Alzheimer's disease

E Y Uc et al. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2005 Jun.

Abstract

Objective: To assess visual search and recognition of roadside targets and safety errors during a landmark and traffic sign identification task in drivers with Alzheimer's disease.

Methods: 33 drivers with probable Alzheimer's disease of mild severity and 137 neurologically normal older adults underwent a battery of visual and cognitive tests and were asked to report detection of specific landmarks and traffic signs along a segment of an experimental drive.

Results: The drivers with mild Alzheimer's disease identified significantly fewer landmarks and traffic signs and made more at-fault safety errors during the task than control subjects. Roadside target identification performance and safety errors were predicted by scores on standardised tests of visual and cognitive function.

Conclusions: Drivers with Alzheimer's disease are impaired in a task of visual search and recognition of roadside targets; the demands of these targets on visual perception, attention, executive functions, and memory probably increase the cognitive load, worsening driving safety.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Neurology. 2000 May 23;54(10):1954-9 - PubMed
    1. Brain. 1999 Sep;122 ( Pt 9):1613-28 - PubMed
    1. Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord. 2001 Jan-Mar;15(1):10-20 - PubMed
    1. Neuropsychiatry Neuropsychol Behav Neurol. 2001 Jul-Sep;14(3):159-68 - PubMed
    1. Arch Neurol. 2001 Oct;58(10):1654-9 - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms