Final Project for Coursera MOOC "Understanding the Brain: the Neurobiology of Every Day Life"

1. The Neurobiology of Driving
Understanding the Brain:
The Neurobiology of Everyday Life
Final Project
By KC Ruano

2. How much does our brain have to work when
we go out for a drive?
For those with even few years of experience, driving can seem like a mindless
activity; something we do on a daily basis without much effort.
It’s so easy, some people can even hold a conversation and listen to music
while they’re at it (some even dare take out their phones to text!).
So really, how much activity could we find in our brain if we could take an
fMRI machine with us to have it scanned while we go out for a ride?

3. Parts of the Nervous System that are Active During
Driving
• The Eye and Visual Cortex
The eye and its millions of photosensitive nerve cells create the electric
impulses that the brain will take to create the visual images that we see when we
are at the wheel, such as the road, the traffic lights, and the rest of the cars.
These signals travel through the optic nerve, which is part of the central
nervous system, through the optic chiasm, thalamus, and into the visual cortices
of the occipital lobes at the back of the brain. This process is what we know as
perception.

4. It is in the different areas of the occipital lobe in which the most
complex part of this process takes place, for it is where the information
in the electric signals is decoded in order to build the images as we
know them, with a specific orientation, shape, color, and depth. It is
also thanks to the occipital lobe that we can know if another car, for
example, is moving and in which direction.
Areas of the Visual Cortex
Area Function
V1 Register visual stimuli
V2 Transmit information
V3 Detect orientation and angles
V4 Combine movement and direction
V5 Distinguish color
V6 Claculate depth

5. • The Peripheral Nervous System and Primary Motor Cortex
Through this vast network made up of 12 pairs of cranial nerves and 31
pairs of spinal nerves, the brain can send to the rest of the body electrical
impulses containing information that tells it what to do.
For example, hitting the break pedal when the traffic light is red.
Every action that involves movement activates the
primary motor cortex, which sends signals to the muscles
through the spinal chord and motor neurons in order for
them to contract.
But hold on a minute, how does the brain even know
what to do once it gets the information? How does it know
it has to push the break once it has seen the traffic light go
red? Well, actually, there are 2 ways in which the brain can
decide how to act when it comes to movement: through
conscious planning, or unconscious planning (otherwise
known as reflex).

6. When an act of movement is
consciously planned it takes place
in the frontal areas of the brain –
the premotor, supplementary, and
prefrontal cortices – which are in
charge of complex or executive
functions such as strategic
thinking and decision making.
On the other hand, many actions are
completed without notice. Many of
these type of actions are known as
reflexes, such as blinking, breathing,
swallowing, etc., which are regulated
by the autonomic nervous system.

7. However, many other of these actions that we are able to perform
unconsciously are far more complex than that. In fact, they even start out as
conscious actions when we first learn how to do them, but through practice
and repetition we are able to get better at them until they come out naturally.
These are known as automatisms, actions planned and processed by the
parietal lobe and cerebellum without the need to involve the frontal lobes.
Some examples would be getting dressed, brushing our teeth, eating, writing,
and well, yes, of course – driving (which is why we are able to pay attention to
many other things while we are at the wheel).

8. When something goes wrong
So now that we know which parts of the brain and nervous system are most
involved while driving, we can list a few examples common medical
conditions that can greatly diminish our ability to go behind the wheel,
including visual impairment or motor disorders:
• Alcoholism/Drug Abuse
• Epilepsy/Seizures
• Macular Degeneration (both eyes)
• Motor Neuron Disease
• Narcolepsy
• Parkinson’s Disease

9. Ways in which this course has allowed me to better
analyze the events and phenomena around me
• As a psychology student, this course has allowed me to have a better and
deeper understanding of the inner workings of the mind which regulate
behavior, emotions, and all the traits characteristic of not just human
beings but all living organisms advanced enough to have a nervous system.
• As an ordinary person, this course has provided a window – or more like a
microscope – into the one thing that allows us human beings to live and
exist and communicate and learn, which we often take for granted.
Learning about neurobiology is like cracking up the HTML code that makes
up our favorite websites which we browse without giving a second
thought about what makes it possible to be there or how it works.

10. • From something simple like reaching out to grab a cup of
coffee to something not quite so simple – like driving, this
course has taught me that neurobiology is everywhere and
always, in each and every activity we perform and even
when we are doing absolutely nothing. Our brain and
nervous system is always there and always busy in our
every day life.
Thank you, Profesor Mason.
It’s been a fantastic course.