Nissan wants to further understand race drivers' brain functions

If you’ve ever seen a particularly slick maneuver while watching a motorsports event, you might be wondering what went through the driver’s mind in order to pull it off. Nissan is setting out to answer this question, using race drivers’ brains in its quest to build better cars and mold better motorists. 

Thankfully, there are neither mad scientists nor organ transplants involved. Instead, the Japanese carmaker is launching its Nissan Brain to Performance program, using advanced imaging and analysis to map out the anatomical details of a professional driver’s brain. Sebastien Buemi and Oliver Rowland, both competing under Nissan’s Formula E banner, will be taking part in the project. 

Coordinating the unprecedented endeavor is Dr. Lucian Gheorghe, an expert in the field of brain analysis and training. “Our brains are incredibly powerful. Without us realizing it, they perform a multitude of critical functions every second we drive our cars,” he explains. Nissan Formula E drivers magnify these functions as they perform under high pressure at incredible speeds, and the program aims to understand what it is about their brains that lets them do what they do best. 

Brain analysis and training expert Dr. Lucian Gheorghe will be coordinating Nissan's new program  

Nissan Brain to Performance will analyze and test the Formula E drivers’ brain activity, set against a control group composed of non-racing, average motorists. Each participant performs various tasks on advanced driving simulators while brain activity is monitored and recorded. The results will be used to develop a personalized driver training program involving electrical brain stimulation, with the goal of improving driver performance. 

The program’s potential is something that Nissan global motorsports director Tommaso Volpe is enthusiastic about. “At Nissan, we dare to do what others don’t. With this groundbreaking program, we aim to understand our race drivers' brain functions like never before and push the boundaries of on-track performance in Formula E,” he says. “Every tenth of a second counts in Formula E, so we're excited to see how our cutting-edge Nissan research team can enhance Seb and Oli's already high-performing brain functionality."

Results gained from the program will also be used to develop future Nissan EVs  

Gheorghe adds that Nissan Brain to Performance not only has the potential to enhance the skills of everyday drivers, but also influence the development of future Nissan electric vehicles. The idea of cars patterned after a racer’s brain is this close to crossing from science fiction to reality. 

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