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Can distractions really enhance motor performance?

Texting while driving seems to score pretty high up there on the “I really shouldn’t be doing this right now” list. A recent study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found that truck drivers who were texting on the road were 23 times more likely to find themselves involved in an accident. Incidentally, and much to my bewilderment, truck drivers who talked on cell phones were found to have absolutely no increased risk for crashing. I suppose it’s much easier to say over the phone than to text “Slow down. Smokey Bear (cop) on your tail. Watch out for that barbershop (bridge lower than 13’6″) up ahead or you’ll soon be driving a bobtail(tractor without a trailer). Looks about time to head over to that pickle park (a state highway rest area…I wonder why they call it that…)”. You can find more CB terminology here.

Most of us would likely think any type of distraction would negatively affect motor performance. However, a recent study by Hemond, Brown, and Robertson published in the Journal of Neuroscience, proves this isn’t necessarily the case…[read the entire entry over at The Quantum Lobe Chronicles]

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