Effect of Visual Attention and Driving Experiences on the Event-Related Potential P300 in the Perception of Traffic Scenes

The numerous objects in the traffic scenes are visually precepted and recognized during vehicle driving. In this process, visual attention is thought to one of the most important functions. It was reported that the traffic accidents are reduced in the drivers having more driving experiences than ones having fewer experiences. It was known that the distribution of the eye movement was varied along with the driving experience in which related that the mechanisms of visual attention also might be changed. Although, the experience alters the visual scan area one of the representation of the visual attention was reported, the detailed mechanisms of visual attention and its related brain signal providing such changes are unknown. In the present study, we focus on the event-related potential P300 which related to visual attention, and investigate the effect of driving experience on the visual attention through the evaluation of the P300 characteristics.