Heartbeat

Drivers may be more likely to crash [blank] an obstacle appears at the same time as a heartbeat. To investigate how the beat of our hearts influences our reaction times, Sarah Garfinkel [blank] the University of Sussex, UK, and her colleagues designed a virtual reality driving game. While participants were driving, obstacles would appear in the road, either in time with a heartbeat or between beats. When objects coincided with heartbeats, drivers' reaction times were slower and [blank] were more likely to crash. Garfinkel presented the results at New Scientist Live in London on Thursday, where she discussed the possible effect of systoles - the squeezing of the heart ventricles that occurs in the middle of a heartbeat - on driving. "If you're driving and you're [blank] a highly aroused state and your heart is beating strong and fast, you will have more cardiac systoles, and that is going [blank] impair your reaction time and ability to avoid objects," she said.