Health aNd Fitness Guide

Using your cellphone, even if it is hands-free, while driving can be as dangerous as drunken driving, according to researchers at the Carnegie Mellon University. Listening to a conversation on the cell phone can reduce brain activity needed for driving by 37 per cent. The researchers studied 29 participants who used a driving simulator while inside an MRI brain scanner. First the participants drove without distractions. But when they drove while listening to statements that they had to decide as true or false, there was a 37 per cent slump in activity in the brain’s parietal lobe, which controls navigation and driving skills. The occipital lobe, which processes visual information, too, showed decreased activity. This led to driving errors.