Brain development could be a major indicator in how likely a teenager is to have a car crash, according to new research.
Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of injury and death among 16- to 19-year-olds in the United States but previous studies have often focused on driving experience and skills.
The latest study, by researchers at the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania (APPC) and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), looked at the working memory development in relation to vehicle crashes.
“We found that teens who had slower development in working memory were more likely to report being in a crash,” said lead author, Elizabeth A. Walshe, a postdoctoral fellow at the APPC and CHOP.
Working memory, which develops through adolescence into the twenties, is the frontal lobe process associated with complex, moment-to-moment tasks essential to driving like scanning, monitoring, and updating information about the vehicle and environment while managing multiple sub-tasks like adjusting the speed.
The study found young drivers whose trajectory of working memory growth was less-than-average were more likely to report being in a crash; drivers with greater-than-average growth in working memory were more likely to say they had not been in a crash.
The researchers suggested a standardized screening or testing during adolescence could determine which teens have slower development of working memory.
“Ideally, we’d be able to offer interventions like driver training or technologies like in-vehicle alert systems to assist new drivers who need it,” added Walshe.
View paper: Working Memory Development and Motor Vehicle Crashes in Young Drivers
