Hazard perception in older drivers

We have developed a hazard perception test (HPT) that presents short video scenes to observers and requires them to identify a traffic conflict that could lead to a collision between the 'camera' vehicle and another road user. In the present study, we compared the performance of young, experienced drivers (M = 21.30 years of age) with that of healthy, older drivers (M = 70.88 years of age). Although an average hazard perception test score based on all scenes did not produce systematic age effects, older adults were systematically slower on a composite hazard perception test score used previously with novice drivers (Scialfa et al., 2011b). Age differences in hazard perception test latencies were mediated by contrast sensitivity, but not simple reaction time. The findings suggest that a brief hazard perception test could potentially be used in the assessment of drivers across the adult lifespan

Exome-wide association study of plasma lipids in >300,000 individuals.

We screened variants on an exome-focused genotyping array in >300,000 participants (replication in >280,000 participants) and identified 444 independent variants in 250 loci significantly associated with total cholesterol (TC), high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and/or triglycerides (TG). At two loci (JAK2 and A1CF), experimental analysis in mice showed lipid changes consistent with the human data. We also found that: (i) beta-thalassemia trait carriers displayed lower TC and were protected from coronary artery disease (CAD); (ii) excluding the CETP locus, there was not a predictable relationship between plasma HDL-C and risk for age-related macular degeneration; (iii) only some mechanisms of lowering LDL-C appeared to increase risk for type 2 diabetes (T2D); and (iv) TG-lowering alleles involved in hepatic production of TG-rich lipoproteins (TM6SF2 and PNPLA3) tracked with higher liver fat, higher risk for T2D, and lower risk for CAD, whereas TG-lowering alleles involved in peripheral lipolysis (LPL and ANGPTL4) had no effect on liver fat but decreased risks for both T2D and CAD