Pupil dilation deconvolution reveals the dynamics of attention at high temporal resolution. S Wierda1, H van Rijn2, N Taatgen3, S Martens1 |
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1Dep. of Neuroscience, Neuroimaging Center, UMCG, University of Groningen, Netherlands |
| The size of the human pupil increases in response to meaningful stimuli and cognitive processing. However, this response is slow and its use is therefore thought to be limited to measurements of tasks in which meaningful events are temporally well separated. Here, we show that high temporal information on attention and cognitive processes can be obtained from the slow response of the pupil. Using automated dilation deconvolution, we isolated and tracked the dynamics of attention in a fast-paced attentional blink task, allowing us to uncover the amount of mental activity that is critical for conscious perception of relevant stimuli. We thus found evidence for specific temporal expectancy effects in attention that have eluded detection using neuroimaging methods such as EEG. In addition, we present direct evidence for the crucial role of the processing demands of the first target, and we show that unreported targets do elicit a distinct cognitive response. Combining this approach with other neuroimaging techniques can open many research opportunities to study the temporal dynamics of the mind’s inner eye in great detail. |
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