Cognitive Evaluation for Driving After a Stroke.

Driving is a common activity which is crucial for most adults. It allows a mobility that contributes to the physic and economic independence. Stroke is an accute process and relatively common in developed countries, and it consists in the abrupt interruption of blood supply anywhere in the brain. Suffering a stroke is a road risk factor, because leaves sequelae in the driver that may interfere with the necessary capacities (including cognitive abilities) for a security driving. For stroke survivors (as young as adults), the fact of stop driving interferes with the activities that provides independence in their lives, so the posibility of driving again woul mean a big step in their recovery.Driving is a complex activity that requires the proper functioning of cognitive and physical processes and functions, as well as appropriate behaviour to make good and quick decisions in different traffic situations. Within these cognitive and behavioural functions, we can talk about executive functions such as planning, cognitive flexibility or decision making; processing speed, praxis, perception, attention, memory, language comprehension and writing, and awareness of one's own abilities and deficits. Because of the complexity, relevance and number of cognitive processes required for safe driving, it is important to know and be able to measure the cognitive processes involved in the activity of driving. The main general objective of this project is to improve comprehension of cognitive elements that predict safe driving in patients who have suffered a stroke. This would allow the creation of a sensitive cognitive assessment protocol to determine the ability of people with stroke to drive again.

Inclusion Criteria:Participants must have the driver´s license.Age:18-70 yearsFor patients:They must have the medical authorization for participating in the study (indicating that they are medically stable to participate in the study, regardless of whether they can drive or not).Chronic phase of stroke (> 6 months from stroke)They have driven in the three months before stroke.Exclusion Criteria:Patients will be excluded if they have a stroke score below 24 on the Mini Mental State Examination, epileptic seizures, visual impairments (uncorrected visual acuity with glasses, diplopia, severe campimetric or visual field deficits, etc.), attentional hemineglect syndrome, severe balance disturbances and people who don't know/can read.They will be required to be able to move independently in a standing position, even if they need the help of assistive devices to do so.