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Abstract
The course of pupillary constriction and dilation provides an easy-to-access, inexpensive, and noninvasive readout of brain activity. We propose a new taxonomy of factors affecting the pupil and link these to associated neural underpinnings in an ascending hierarchy. In addition to two well-established low-level factors (light level and focal distance), we suggest two further intermediate-level factors, alerting and orienting, and a higher-level factor, executive functioning. Alerting, orienting, and executive functioning – including their respective underlying neural circuitries – overlap with the three principal attentional networks, making pupil size an integrated readout of distinct states of attention. As a now widespread technique, pupillometry is ready to provide meaningful applications and constitutes a viable part of the psychophysiological toolbox.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 635-647 |
Number of pages | 13 |
Journal | Trends in Neurosciences |
Volume | 45 |
Issue number | 8 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Aug 2022 |
Keywords
- alerting
- executive function
- locus coeruleus
- orienting
- superior colliculus
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