Quantifying Naturalistic Driving and Navigation Behaviours: Insights into Early Signs of Alzheimer’s Disease

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dc.contributor.advisorBayat, Sayeh
dc.contributor.authorLong, Kelly
dc.contributor.committeememberStefanakis, Emmanuel
dc.contributor.committeememberBarber, Philip
dc.contributor.committeememberSaidi, Saeid
dc.date2025-06
dc.date.accessioned2025-02-07T20:18:24Z
dc.date.available2025-02-07T20:18:24Z
dc.date.issued2025-01-23
dc.description.abstractAlzheimer’s disease (AD) has been associated with changes in driving behaviours and navigational deficits, often emerging in early stages. The ATN framework defines AD pathology through beta-amyloid (A), tau (T), and neurodegeneration (N) biomarkers, which can manifest before clinical symptoms. In this study, we designed and calculated several metrics to quantify navigation and driving behaviours to understand how they relate to ATN biomarkers in individuals without cognitive impairment. Cerebral spinal fluid biomarker (CSF) concentrations and GPS driving data were collected from 125 cognitively normal participants between ages 65 and 85 enrolled in a longitudinal study at Washington University School of Medicine. Participants were categorized as biomarker-negative (-) or biomarker-positive (+) according to CSF concentrations of A, T, and N biomarkers. Several metrics were designed to capture temporal, spatial, and navigational aspects of driving. Temporal metrics included idle time at the start and end of trips to examine driver hesitation. Spatial metrics included distance travelled and life space (distance from home). Navigational metrics included turn counts, route straightness and route complexity, route diversity (proportion of unique routes), most common route concentration (frequency of most travelled route), and comparisons of actual versus time-optimized routes to evaluate navigational decision-making. Exploratory cross-sectional analyses over one and longitudinal analyses assessed trends over two years revealed notable relationships between the metrics and ATN biomarkers. N+ participants may have lower idle time at the start of a trip and lower route diversity than N- participants. Route diversity may also be reduced for T+ participants compared to T- participants. Complexity was higher for A+ participants after accounting for age, though it decreased with age. Idle time at the start of a trip increased with time for T- and N- participants but not T+ or N+ participants. Additionally, both straightness and the ratio of the actual route straightness to the optimized route straightness increased over time for N+ participants but not N- participants. These findings highlight the utility of the metrics in capturing subtle changes in driving and navigation behaviours and emphasize their potential as early markers of AD-related changes.
dc.identifier.citationLong, K. (2025). Quantifying naturalistic driving and navigation behaviours: insights into early signs of Alzheimer’s disease (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1880/120581
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisher.facultySchulich School of Engineering
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Calgary
dc.rightsUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.
dc.subjectAlzheimer's Disease
dc.subjectATN Framework
dc.subjectMetrics
dc.subjectDriving
dc.subjectSpatial
dc.subjectNavigation
dc.subjectTemporal
dc.subjectLongitudinal
dc.subjectCross-sectional
dc.subjectBehaviours
dc.subjectOlder Adults
dc.subjectDigital Health
dc.subjectGPS
dc.subject.classificationEngineering--Biomedical
dc.subject.classificationComputer Science
dc.subject.classificationEpidemiology
dc.subject.classificationStatistics
dc.subject.classificationPublic Health
dc.subject.classificationPathology
dc.subject.classificationEducation--Technology
dc.subject.classificationGeography
dc.subject.classificationGerontology
dc.titleQuantifying Naturalistic Driving and Navigation Behaviours: Insights into Early Signs of Alzheimer’s Disease
dc.typemaster thesis
thesis.degree.disciplineEngineering – Biomedical
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Calgary
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Science (MSc)
ucalgary.thesis.accesssetbystudentI require a thesis withhold – I need to delay the release of my thesis due to a patent application, and other reasons outlined in the link above. I have/will need to submit a thesis withhold application.
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