U of M News Wire: October 11, 2007

 
Hanging up the keys
Deciding when to stop driving has emotional and physical implications
 
By Laine Bergeson
U of M News Wire

Car keys in a car door. For most Americans, driving equals autonomy. Getting to the grocery store, book club, a family member’s house, often requires an automobile. The car has rooted itself in American life as a tool for defining what we do and, by extension, how we perceive ourselves.
 
Which makes aging so potentially upending. While the years bring experience, they also can chip away visual acuity, hearing, muscle tone, and response time—skills vital for driving. When an individual or his or her loved ones senses that it might be time to retire from driving, the decision can feel like a blow to his or her very identity.
 
“The decision to stop driving is a real issue, and we need a more realistic way of looking at it,” says Jim Reinardy, a gerontology expert who is director of graduate studies and interim director of the School of Social Work. “Driving cannot simply be experienced as something one gives up. It has to be seen as a change to a different alternative.”
 
It’s important for the senior and members of his or her support system to weigh the options. “When driving has to stop, you need to have a transportation plan or a whole life plan in place. Don’t talk about giving up driving, talk about what driving led you to,” says Reinardy, then arrange alternatives for getting there. Some people choose to live on bus routes. Others create intentional communities where members can still help out with driving duties. Some families devise schedules for helping meet an older person’s transportation needs.
 
The question arises, then: How does one gauge when it’s appropriate to retire from driving? While different aspects of aging will affect individuals to varying degrees, some changes are universal, says Curtis Hammond, a researcher in the School of Kinesiology. “As you age, you stiffen,” says Hammond. “And you don’t crane your head as you probably should. Turning around to spot a vehicle can be especially important if one’s eyesight is deteriorating—another age-related concern.”
 
In one of Hammond’s studies of braking behaviors, researchers evaluated younger and older drivers using a full-sized car and a virtual environment. When the car that test subjects were following stopped at a prescribed distance, younger drivers tended to react more quickly but brake harder due to closer following distance. Older drivers did just the opposite; they had slower reaction time but needed less pressure to stop in time.
 
Hammond emphasizes, however, that age-related physical concerns are only half of the issue. More pressingly, he says, the system is broken.
 
“The traffic system is not designed with a wide range of tolerance for even healthy drivers,” says Hammond, who conducted his research with principal investigator Professor Michael Wade from kinesiology. “The road system [leaves] a very narrow band of what you can get away with. There are too many signs and merges that are too quick, too tight turns on off-ramps,” he continues. “The traffic system as it now stands, taxes [even] a young, spry mind. We are already pushed to the limits.”
 
Other issues that may affect older drivers include a decreased ability to track several moving objects at once, and spotting details, such as on a sign.
 
The AARP offers a self-test for some of these abilities. Testing alone isn’t enough to make the decision, says Hammond; the person facing the choice needs to be proactive. “Even if we put self-tests out there, the older person needs to make that decision first. If they can tell three years in advance that their vision is going down, they can test themselves and plan for the future. If one plans ahead, the decision doesn’t have to be dramatic.”
 
Reinardy suggests drawing up a contract well in advance that sets parameters so everyone can plan for the eventual decision to hang up the keys. He also emphasizes flexibility and a proactive approach. “The savvy older person, or their adult children, will think of alternatives as they age,” he says. “Giving up driving is a fundamental and difficult change; it takes a long time. Treat this as a real decision, not a loss. With a lot of support, there are a lot of alternatives.”
 
 
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“Chlamy” genome holds clues for renewable energy, the environment and human health
By Mark Cassutt
U of M News Wire

 University of Minnesota researchers contributed to a national effort to sequence the genome of an ancient, one-celled organism that will help advance research in a broad range of areas, from biofuels to restoring the environment to understanding a variety of human diseases.

The organism, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, known affectionately as “Chlamy,” has long fascinated scientists because it is an ancestor of plants and animals that retains characteristics of both. Like green plants, Chlamy (a type of green alga) uses photosynthesis to convert solar energy and carbon dioxide into biomass. And like many animal cells, including human sperm, it has flagella that allow it to swim.

Analysis of the 15,000 genes that make up Chlamy’s genome revealed hundreds that control photosynthesis and the function of flagella. The genome also provides a glimpse back through time to when all plants and animals were unicellular and used flagella to swim.  When they became multicellular, plants put down roots and lost their flagella while animals retained flagella on certain kinds of cells, including sperm and cilia on some cells in the lungs, kidneys and eyes.

Led by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Joint Genome Institute, the University of California and the Carnegie Institute, the genome study is published in the Oct. 12 issue of Science.

Peter Lefebvre, Carolyn Silflow and Anton Sanderfoot, members of the department of plant biology faculty, were part of the national team of researchers that carried out the massive project. LeFebvre provided the DNA sample that launched the effort and Carolyn Silflow contributed a detailed molecular map that helped the team identify the function of hundreds of genes involved in photosynthesis and the formation of flagella. Students in the College of Biological Sciences also took part in the historic research.

“We expect the work to produce new biological strategies for capturing solar energy, assimilating carbon and removing toxins from soil,” said Pete Lefebvre, professor of plant biology in the College of Biological Sciences. The genome also holds clues to human diseases that result from defects in flagella and cilia. These include dyskinesia, a neurological movement disorder, and polycystic kidney disease.

The DOE Joint Genome Institute studies plants and microbes with the potential to advance bioenergy and restoration of the environment by removing carbon from the atmosphere and toxins from soil.  Supported by the DOE Office of Science, it unites the expertise of five national laboratories, Lawrence Berkeley, Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos, Oak Ridge and Pacific Northwest, along with the Stanford Human Genome Center.

Several other College of Biological Sciences faculty have worked on projects for the Department of Energy's Joint Genome Institute. They include Lawrence Wackett, Alan Hooper and Michael Sadowsky.


 
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Growing Concerns
A parenting question-and-answer column with Dr. Martha Erickson of the University of Minnesota

Question: My four-year-old son recently lost his maternal grandfather. It was his first experience with death and I think he’s having a difficult time. He says things like, “I don't love Grandpa anymore. He died.” Or, “Old and sick people die. Is grandma going to die (or mom, or dad, or me)?” Do you have any suggestions for how I can help him deal with this?
 
Answer: At age four, children are only beginning to grasp the fact that death is permanent and irreversible. At this young age they do not understand that all living things eventually die -- nor would they feel very comfortable if they did know that. By saying that he doesn’t love his grandfather anymore, your son suggests that he’s angry that Grandpa left him. Anger toward the person who died is not unusual at any age, but it is especially common in young children.
 
One of the most important things you can do in this situation is to reflect back your son's feelings.  For example, you can say to him, “You feel sad -- and kind of mad -- that Grandpa had to die. You miss him a lot, and so do mom and I.” It is also important to clarify that Grandpa didn't die on purpose and that you know he hoped to live for a long time so he could watch his grandson grow.
 
It also will be helpful to let your son see how you and your wife feel about this loss. He can learn much from watching you deal with grief and loss in a healthy way – shedding tears of sadness, comforting each other and reminiscing about the good times you had with Grandpa when he was alive and healthy. Tell your son that you and his mom still love Grandpa even though he's no longer alive, and that your son still can love him too. Looking at pictures of when Grandpa was healthy -- and telling stories about the times you enjoyed together -- are good ways to help your son come to grips with those feelings.
 
It sounds like your son also needs reassurance that you, his mom and he are still young and healthy. Granted, death is a harsh and unpredictable reality that is difficult for children to learn and parents to teach. But for now, your son needs to know that you and he probably have many more years together.
 
Finally, books can be a wonderful way to help a young child develop a healthy, realistic understanding of death. Two of my favorites for preschool children are Tomie de Paola’s  “Nana Upstairs, Nana Downstairs,” which illustrates how a family’s closeness helps a little boy cope with his great-grandmother’s death, and Judith Viorst’s “The Tenth Good Thing About Barney,” which tells how a father comforts his daughter after her cat dies.  You should be able to find these books in a public library, where I’m sure a good children’s librarian could help you find others.
 
 
Dr. Erickson is a senior fellow and director of the Harris Programs in the Center for Early Childhood Education at the University of Minnesota
 
Want to hear more parenting advice?
Dr. Erickson and her daughter can be heard every Sunday, from 2 - 4 pm, on “Good Enough Moms,” on FM107.1 radio in the Twin Cities or via Webcast at www.FM1071.com