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Effects of Psychotropics on Driving Performance

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Sleep and Sleep Disorders

Conclusions

It is intuitive that CNS-active drugs have the potential to affect perceptual and psychomotor skills relevant to driving. Yet, variability in testing paradigms and difficulty in controlling performance-testing conditions continue to create challenges in achieving a more exact understanding of pharmacological influences on driving behavior. Advances in technology have created opportunities for better measurement, both in simulator and on-road testing. Controlled prospective, rather than retrospective epidemiological studies will be more likely to shed light on cause and effect of motor vehicle crashes in relation to drug use. Alternative comparison data for driving performance of healthy unmedicated individuals is urgently needed to further knowledge in this field.

Psychotropic medications have the potential to improve aspects of driving performance, however, this is dependent on factors such as perceptual driving context and trip duration. Cognitive and psychomotor aspects of psychiatric disorders often respond to pharmacological treatment, but care must be taken to avoid acute or persistent adverse effects such as sedation or agitation, which could equally elevate crash risk through separate mechanisms. The performance of driving will continue to evolve in coming years, along with sociological and technological developments, making this a topic of continued interest to researchers interested in psychopharmacology and human performance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sleep Research Unit Department of Psychiatry, Toronto Western Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Henry J. Moller & Colin M. Shapiro

  2. Sleep Research Laboratory, University Health Network Toronto Western Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Leonid Kayumov

Authors
  1. Henry J. Moller
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  2. Colin M. Shapiro
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  3. Leonid Kayumov
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© 2006 Landes Bioscience/Eurekah.com and Springer Science+Business Media

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Moller, H.J., Shapiro, C.M., Kayumov, L. (2006). Effects of Psychotropics on Driving Performance. In: Sleep and Sleep Disorders. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-27682-3_16

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