Scientists Create Video Game to Help Senior Drivers Stay Safe

Researchers have developed a video game called Cognitive Training for Car Driving (CTCD) to help make senior motorists safer when they drive, reports the New York Post . Tests involving 60 retirees aged 65 to 80 determined CTCD players drove better after six weeks of training. The at-home game measured their reaction times, attention spans, and memories as they played for 20 minutes a day, five days a week. CTCD presents players with two signs with two numbers on a TV, with participants asked to choose the one with the larger number as quickly as possible. In attention exercises, participants must perform two tasks at the same time — one entails pink musical notes moving along a circle as participants are asked to push a button when it is concealed behind an orange object with a yellow star. The other task gets players to identify an approaching target and press if it is human. A speed prediction exercise has a target moving behind a wall from left to right on the screen, and participants have to push the button when it emerges. "These results extended our previous findings that regular use of a simple cognitive training game can benefit older adults who drive cars," notes Tohoku University's Rui Nouchi.