An Abstract Virtual Environment Tool to Assess Decision-Making Impaired Drivers

The authors describe design and pilot testing of software for evaluating decision-making abilities in drivers with neurological impairments. Instead of striving for visual realism, the virtual environment software is based on a more abstract representation that provides necessary visual cues in a single-screen setting. Pilot tests were conducted on 16 subjects with neurological impairments (14 with focal brain lesions, two with Alzheimer's disease), and 16 neurologically normal subjects. Preliminary results are promising, suggesting that the PC-based virtual environment tool can distinguish decision-making impaired people where traditional neurological test batteries cannot.