A new study shows that tracking how older adults drive could help doctors find early signs of memory and thinking problems. The study was published on November 26, 2025, in the journal Neurology.
The research team found that data collected from driving—such as how far people drive, how often they go out, and how much they stick to the same routes—can reveal more about a person’s brain health than just age or standard memory tests alone.
Dr. Ganesh M. Babulal, the lead author from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, said it is important to find out early if someone’s thinking is getting worse, especially if they are still driving.
“It’s hard and takes a lot of time to figure out who is unsafe to drive,” Babulal said. “But by using GPS data from their cars, we can get a clearer picture of who may be having trouble.”
The study involved 298 older adults with an average age of 75. Among them, 56 had mild cognitive impairment, which often happens before Alzheimer’s disease, while 242 were healthy.
At the beginning of the study, everyone was still driving at least once a week. Each person agreed to take memory and thinking tests and had a GPS tracker installed in their car. The researchers followed them for more than three years.
At first, the driving habits of the two groups looked the same. But as time went on, people with memory problems started to drive less often, especially at night. They also stuck to the same routes more often and didn’t drive as far. These changes were small but noticeable over time.
The researchers used these driving patterns—such as trip length, speeding behavior, and driving routines—to predict who had mild memory loss. The GPS data alone was 82% accurate.
When they added in age, memory test scores, and whether someone had a gene linked to Alzheimer’s, the accuracy rose to 87%. Without the driving data, the prediction was only 76% accurate.
This means that watching how someone drives could be a useful tool in spotting early signs of memory problems. It’s an easy and non-intrusive way to keep track of brain health.
“It could help us act earlier and avoid car accidents caused by cognitive decline,” said Babulal. “But we also need to be careful about privacy, personal freedom, and making sure people understand how their data is used.”
One weakness of the study is that most of the people who took part were white and well-educated. That means the results might not apply to everyone. More research will be needed to confirm these findings in other groups of people.
Still, this study shows that your car might be telling you more about your health than you think—and someday, driving data could help doctors protect your memory before bigger problems arise.
If you care about dementia, please read studies about dietary strategies to ward off dementia, and how omega-3 fatty acids fuel your mind.
For more health information, please see recent studies about Choline deficiency linked to Alzheimer’s disease, and what to eat (and avoid) for dementia prevention.
The study is published in Neurology.
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