A Comparison of the Effect of a Low to Moderately Demanding Cognitive Task on Simulated Driving Performance and Heart Rate in Middle Aged and Young Adult Drivers

The goal of this study was to assess heart rate and driving performance while middle age and younger adults engaged in a naturalistic hands free phone task that was structured to place objectively equivalent cognitive demands on all participants. Although heart rate measures have been used in evaluating driver workload, prior studies had not compared responses in middle age and younger adults. Younger and middle age subjects performed equally well on the cellular telephone task. Middle age subjects drove more slowly overall and, as a group, did not demonstrate heart rate acceleration in response to the phone conversation that was seen in younger drivers. Both age groups showed a drop in speed control during the task. Late middle age adults appear as capable as young adults of managing the additional workload of a low to moderately demanding cognitive task while driving.