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. 2024 Apr 10:12:e17228.
doi: 10.7717/peerj.17228. eCollection 2024.

Behind the wheel: exploring gray matter variations in experienced drivers

Jiangtao Chen #  1 , Xiaoyu Chen #  1 , Li Gong  1 , Di Zhang  2 , Qiang Liu  1   3
Affiliations

Behind the wheel: exploring gray matter variations in experienced drivers

Jiangtao Chen et al. PeerJ. .

Abstract

Background: Driving is a complex skill involving various cognitive activities. Previous research has explored differences in the brain structures related to the navigational abilities of drivers compared to non-drivers. However, it remains unclear whether changes occur in the structures associated with low-level sensory and higher-order cognitive abilities in drivers.

Methods: Gray matter volume, assessed via voxel-based morphometry analysis of T1-weighted images, is considered a reliable indicator of structural changes in the brain. This study employs voxel-based morphological analysis to investigate structural differences between drivers (n = 22) and non-drivers (n = 20).

Results: The results indicate that, in comparison to non-drivers, drivers exhibit significantly reduced gray matter volume in the middle occipital gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, supramarginal gyrus, and cerebellum, suggesting a relationship with driving-related experience. Furthermore, the volume of the middle occipital gyrus, and middle temporal gyrus, is found to be marginally negative related to the years of driving experience, suggesting a potential impact of driving experience on gray matter volume. However, no significant correlations were observed between driving experiences and frontal gray matter volume.

Conclusion: These findings suggest that driving skills and experience have a pronounced impact on the cortical areas responsible for low-level sensory and motor processing. Meanwhile, the influence on cortical areas associated with higher-order cognitive function appears to be minimal.

Keywords: Driving experience; Driving skill; Gray matter volume; Sensory and motor processing.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis results.
Brain regions exhibiting a significant decrease in gray matter volume in drivers compared to non-drivers are depicted. The maps were thresholded using threshold-free cluster enhancement (TFCE) at p < 0.05, corrected for family-wise error (FWE) across the whole brain. Visualization of brain space graphs was performed using BrainNet Viewer (http://www.nitrc.org/projects/bnv/) (Xia, Wang & He, 2013). TFCE statistics are represented by the color bar.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Scatter plot of individual volume in the ROIs between driver and non-driver.
Individual volumes in specific regions of interest (ROIs) are presented: (A) MTG_L, (B) MOG_R, (C) cerebrellum_4_5_R and (D) SMG_R. The horizontal lines represent the mean of each group while the error bars represent the standard deviation (SD). The asterisks (*) at the top of graph denote *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01; Note: MTG_L (left middle temporal gyrus), MOG_R (right middle occipital gyrus), cerebellum_4_5_R (right cerebellum_4_5), SMG_R (right supramarginal gyrus).
Figure 3
Figure 3. Scatter plots illustrating correlations between ROI volumes and driving years.
(A) Scatter plot depicting the negative correlation between the volume of the left middle temporal gyrus and driving years. (B) Scatter plot illustrating the negative correlation between the volume of the right middle occipital gyrus and driving years. (C) Scatter plot showing the correlation between the volume of the right cerebellum_4_5 and driving years. (D) Scatter plot presenting the correlation between the volume of the right supramarginal gyrus and driving years. Note: MTG (left middle temporal gyrus), MOG_R (right middle occipital gyrus), cerebellum_4_5_R (right cerebellum_4_5), SMG_R (right supramarginal gyrus).
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