Association between driving a car and retention of brain volume in Japanese older adults

•Driving, life space, and structural brain volume association was evaluated.•High-resolution MRI was employed to examine the brain volume in 1063 older adults.•Hippocampal volume was greater in drivers than in non-drivers.•Driving was associated with hippocampal brain atrophy attenuation.•Active drivers exhibited decreased brain atrophy in temporal and cingulate cortices.