CogniFit Partners with Nebrija University to Study Road Safety and Driving Risks
Since our founding over two decades ago, CogniFit has been developing cognitive tools based on the leading neuropsychological research to help people assess and train their cognitive abilities such as focus, divided attention, and response time.
As we have grown, we have begun leveraging the unrivaled tools and cognitive data we have been able to build over these past 20+ years to give back to the scientific community and be an active participant in the cognitive sciences.
One recent example of this is the inter-institutional agreement we have made with Nebrija University. As part of this unique agreement, the Nebrija Research Center in Cognition recently launched the CogniFit Driving Research Unit, an international research team specialized in investigating the relationship between cognitive factors and driving skills.
What is the CogniFit Driving Research Unit?
The research unit came about as a natural next step, building on several important scientific studies led by Nebrija University, which explored the cognitive skills necessary for safe driving.
The scientific activity of the CogniFit Driving Research Unit will be coordinated by the director of the Nebrija Research Center in Cognition, Jon Andoni Duñabeitia, and by José Luis Tapia, a pre-doctoral researcher awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities with a position in the University Teacher Training Program.
The unit will be equipped with modern driving simulators that provide a high level of immersion in realistic environments, and with internationally pioneering software for measuring and training cognitive functions, as well as for assessing driving competence in drivers of all ages.
As part of the partnership, CogniFit will be providing technical support for the research initiative. This support will allow the unit to incorporate driving simulators and digital tools for cognitive assessment and training to promote new scientific projects.
The CogniFit Driving Research Unit at Nebrija University will serve as a meeting point for different research groups, such as the GREEN group, a group specialized in vehicle engineering directed by José Luis Olazagoitia, and the CEDI group, directed by Claudia Poch, which is specialized in cognitive aspects related to education.
Likewise, the unit will have strategic alliances with the Nebrija Automobile Club and with different degrees and postgraduate programs of the Advanced Polytechnic School.
What Projects will the CogniFit Driving Research Unit undertake?
The first projects to be promoted by the CogniFit Driving Research Unit will explore the impact of cognitive estimation skills on driving expertise. Estimation skills allow us to give a reasonable answer to critical questions for which there are no direct answers, such as the speed at which a vehicle is moving, the distance to a pedestrian or an obstacle, or the time that will elapse from the moment we start a maneuver until we can finish it.
Jon Andoni Duñabeitia, the coordinator of the unit, explains that “although for most people driving is a common, simple, and automated activity, it requires a series of complex cognitive processes that integrate multiple sensory, cognitive and motor functions”.
The CogniFit Driving Research Unit will develop research projects to explore these processes, evaluate them and train them in order to prevent, as much as possible, an estimation error from leading to tragic consequences. Thus, “the unit is born with an applied scientific orientation and aims to provide knowledge that will help prevent accidents,” says Duñabeitia.
We at CogniFit, the world’s leading company in the development of cognitive assessment and intervention tools, are excited to be a part of this exciting partnership and are pleased to be able to share our data analysis and cognitive training tools available to researchers.
Our CEO, Carlos Rodríguez, believes that “this unit will serve as a link between the scientific field, insurance companies, and public and private institutions aimed at creating safer cities.”
Tell us what you think in the comments below and let us know if you have any questions!
