Multisensory processing, self-motion perception, and performance across the lifespan: Behavioural and neural measures

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Driving a car is a dangerous activity. Virtual environment driving simulators provide safe training for potentially dangerous situations, and are part of a growing area of research aimed at understanding the behaviour involved in operating large machines. Self-motion perception is integral to operating moving vehicles, providing information about speed, acceleration, rotation, heading, and terrain. Self-motion perception is critical for judging dynamic interactions with other moving objects (e.g. traffic, pedestrians). Although vestibular information is a critical component of self-motion perception, most simulators have limited or no physical motion capability. Our work is aimed at advancing knowledge about neural and behavioural mechanisms involved in self-motion perception, vehicle control, and navigation, as well as studying the use of motion simulators for training and testing drivers. Critically, self-motion perception is a result of a complex integration of information from multiple senses, including visual, auditory, and vestibular. We examine the nature of multisensory processing in a variety of driving scenarios, looking at responses to manipulations of speed, acceleration, heading, hazards, steering and pedal control. We look at how attention, multitasking, vigilance, spatial memory, and navigation interact with self-motion perception to affect driving. An important component of our research is to understand how these responses change as we grow older. Age-related differences include basic sensory processes that contribute to self-motion perception, and we know that multisensory integration changes across the lifespan. Both driving expertise and changing brain dynamics contribute to the maintenance of safe driving behaviour. We are interested in how these factors lead to changes in self-motion perception and vehicle control, and how we might improve driving safety for older drivers. We will be studying drivers from 18 to 80 years old to understand how fundamental neural and behavioural processes involved in driving change across the lifespan. Perception of self-motion is an integral part of operating a moving vehicle but very few research simulators incorporate full physical motion and even fewer incorporate brain-imaging. We are breaking ground with innovative methods to evaluate neural responses associated with self-motion perception and vehicle control. The average age of drivers in Canada is increasing and the nature of driving is changing as technology moves to clean energy and electric cars. The trend with newer cars is to make them less sensitive to road conditions to provide a smoother ride. However, if multisensory integration is part of an adaptive neural strategy for older drivers, they may need vehicles that provide enhanced auditory, vestibular, and proprioceptive signals. Our research addresses fundamental questions about perception and learning that will inform future decisions about technology and training.