UIHC'S 'AUTO' HELPS TO TEST SKILLS OF THE IMPAIRED

In the basement of the UI Hospitals and Clinics sits a blue 1994 Saturn
that helps UI researchers test the driving skills of subjects suffering
from various forms of brain damage.

The Simulator for Interdisciplinary Research in Ergonomics and Safety
facility helps patients by testing their performance in realistic
scenarios. It has been tested on people suffering from limited mobility,
sleeping disorders, and Alzheimer's disease.

Recently, the operators have started to test users of marijuana and
Ecstasy. It is the only driving simulator of its kind in a U.S. university
hospital.

Matthew Rizzo, a UI professor of neurology, is the director of the Division
of Neuroergonomics, which oversees simulator processes.

Rizzo said the car has no motion base to recreate familiar driving
movements, but it is "just as good as any simulator in the world" thanks to
a state-of-the-art graphics system that includes a wraparound front screen,
a rear screen, and sound system.

Rather than a conventional engine, the vehicle houses a torque motor,
providing feedback to the steering wheel and enhancing the customized
virtual drive's realism. Inside, the car is loaded with sensors and cameras
to record a driver's actions and perceptions of the landscape.

Steven Anderson, an associate professor of neurology, works to understand
the basis for thinking abilities in the brain, the body's "most
complicated" organ.

Data are being analyzed from a 17-month pilot study of more than 30 drug
users that concluded in November 2003. Participants - ranging from
recreational to chronic users - exhibited thinking and decision-making
impairments despite being sober while performing the tasks, Anderson said.

The group has found that these patients tend to crash at higher speeds
because they don't react so quickly to external events.

Findings also show that subjects have a slower response rate to police cars
on the side of the road than non-users.

Antoine Bechara, an assistant professor of neurology, said it is possible
these "subtle cognitive deficits" could worsen with time.

But he disputed some of the literature published about minimal exposure to
drugs such as Ecstasy causing permanent brain damage.

"We're not finding anything to support those claims," he said, adding that
it's not fair to blame Ecstasy alone because most users combine the drug
with other substances.

The division is seeking federal funding to perform a more-expansive study
to determine whether frequent exposure - or any at all - to marijuana and
Ecstasy causes permanent brain damage. Additionally, the researchers
applying to study more brain and memory disorders.

Anderson sees the value of the research in preventing the serious
consequences of such conditions going unmonitored.

Shaking his head, he said, "I've known [pilots] who landed at the wrong
airport."