scholarly journals The pupillary light response reflects exogenous attention and inhibition of return

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastiaan Mathôt ◽  
Edwin S. Dalmaijer ◽  
Jonathan Grainger ◽  
Stefan Van der Stigchel
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movement ◽  
Behavioral Inhibition ◽  
Inhibition Of Return ◽  
Light Response ◽  
Dark Side ◽  
Exogenous Attention ◽  
Pupillary Light ◽  
Bright Side ◽  
Exogenous Cue ◽  
Behavioral Phenomenon

Here we show that the pupillary light response reflects exogenous (involuntary) shifts of attention and inhibition of return. Participants fixated in the center of a display that was divided into a bright and a dark half. An exogenous cue attracted attention to the bright or dark side of the display. Initially, the pupil constricted when the bright, as compared to the dark side of the display was cued, reflecting a shift of attention towards the exogenous cue. Crucially, this pattern reversed about one second after cue presentation. This later-occurring, relative dilation (when the bright side was cued) reflected disengagement from the previously attended location, analogous to the behavioral phenomenon of inhibition of return. Indeed, we observed a strong correlation between 'pupillary inhibition' and behavioral inhibition of return. We conclude that the pupillary light response is a complex eye movement that reflects how we selectively parse and interpret visual input.

scholarly journals The pupillary light response reflects exogenous attention and inhibition of return

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastiaan Mathôt ◽  
Edwin S. Dalmaijer ◽  
Jonathan Grainger ◽  
Stefan Van der Stigchel
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movement ◽  
Behavioral Inhibition ◽  
Inhibition Of Return ◽  
Light Response ◽  
Dark Side ◽  
Exogenous Attention ◽  
Pupillary Light ◽  
Bright Side ◽  
Exogenous Cue ◽  
Behavioral Phenomenon

Here we show that the pupillary light response reflects exogenous (involuntary) shifts of attention and inhibition of return. Participants fixated in the center of a display that was divided into a bright and a dark half. An exogenous cue attracted attention to the bright or dark side of the display. Initially, the pupil constricted when the bright, as compared to the dark side of the display was cued, reflecting a shift of attention towards the exogenous cue. Crucially, this pattern reversed about one second after cue presentation. This later-occurring, relative dilation (when the bright side was cued) reflected disengagement from the previously attended location, analogous to the behavioral phenomenon of inhibition of return. Indeed, we observed a strong correlation between 'pupillary inhibition' and behavioral inhibition of return. We conclude that the pupillary light response is a complex eye movement that reflects how we selectively parse and interpret visual input.

scholarly journals The pupillary light response reflects exogenous attention and inhibition of return

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (14) ◽  
pp. 7-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Mathot ◽  
E. Dalmaijer ◽  
J. Grainger ◽  
S. Van der Stigchel
Keyword(s):  
Inhibition Of Return ◽  
Light Response ◽  
Exogenous Attention ◽  
Pupillary Light

scholarly journals Exploring the interaction between the pupillary light response after exogenous attentional cueing and detection performance

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiemen J. Wagenvoort ◽  
Rosanne H. Timmerman ◽  
Stefan Van der Stigchel ◽  
Jasper H. Fabius
Keyword(s):  
Visual Information ◽  
Pupil Size ◽  
Light Response ◽  
Detection Performance ◽  
Covert Attention ◽  
Cognitive Factors ◽  
Dark Side ◽  
Light Conditions ◽  
Pupillary Light ◽  
Bright Side

AbstractPupil size changes under different light conditions. Whereas this pupillary light response (PLR) has long been regarded to be influenced by luminance only, recent studies indicated the PLR is also modulated by cognitive factors such as the allocation of spatial attention. This attentional modulation of the PLR has previously been hypothesized to facilitate detection and discrimination of visual information. Here, we replicated the finding that the pupil dilates when a cue is presented at the dark side of a screen and constricts when the cue is presented at the bright side, even when the eyes are fixated at the center. Furthermore, we investigated whether this modulation of the PLR, evoked by exogenous shifts of covert attention, facilitates perception operationalized as detection performance for threshold stimuli. Results showed that a larger pupil was indeed related to increased detection performance, although this effect was restricted to conditions in which both cue and target appeared on a dark surface. Our findings are in line with the notion that pupil dilations improve detectability, whereas pupil constrictions enhance discriminability of small stimuli.

scholarly journals The pupillary light response reflects eye-movement preparation.

2015 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastiaan Mathôt ◽  
Lotje van der Linden ◽  
Jonathan Grainger ◽  
Françoise Vitu
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movement ◽  
Light Response ◽  
Movement Preparation ◽  
Pupillary Light

scholarly journals The pupillary light response reflects eye-movement preparation

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastiaan Mathôt ◽  
Lotje van der Linden ◽  
Jonathan Grainger ◽  
Françoise Vitu
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movement ◽  
Light Response ◽  
Movement Preparation ◽  
Saccadic Eye Movement ◽  
Cognitive Influences ◽  
Gray Area ◽  
Dynamic Movement ◽  
Pupillary Light ◽  
Central Gray ◽  
Saccade Preparation

When the eyes are exposed to an increased influx of light, the pupils constrict. The pupillary light response (PLR) is traditionally believed to be purely reflexive and not susceptible to cognitive influences. In contrast to this traditional view, we report here that preparation of a PLR occurs in parallel with preparation of a saccadic eye movement towards a bright (or dark) stimulus, even before the eyes set in motion. Participants fixated a central gray area and made a saccade towards a peripheral target. Using gaze-contingent display changes, we manipulated whether or not the brightness of the target background was the same during and after saccade preparation. More specifically, on some trials we changed the brightness of the target background as soon as the eyes set in motion, thus dissociating the preparatory PLR (i.e. to the brightness of the target background before the saccade) from the 'regular' PLR (i.e. to the brightness after the saccade). We show that a PLR to the brightness of the to-be-fixated target background is prepared before the eyes set in motion. This reduces the latency of the PLR by approximately 100 ms. We link our findings to the pre-saccadic shift of attention: The pupil prepares to adjusts its size to the brightness of a to-be-fixated stimulus as soon as attention covertly shifts towards that stimulus, about 100 ms before a saccade is executed. Our findings illustrate that the PLR is a dynamic movement that is tightly linked to visual attention and eye-movement preparation.

scholarly journals The pupillary light response reflects eye-movement preparation

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastiaan Mathôt ◽  
Lotje van der Linden ◽  
Jonathan Grainger ◽  
Françoise Vitu
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movement ◽  
Light Response ◽  
Movement Preparation ◽  
Saccadic Eye Movement ◽  
Cognitive Influences ◽  
Gray Area ◽  
Dynamic Movement ◽  
Pupillary Light ◽  
Central Gray ◽  
Saccade Preparation

When the eyes are exposed to an increased influx of light, the pupils constrict. The pupillary light response (PLR) is traditionally believed to be purely reflexive and not susceptible to cognitive influences. In contrast to this traditional view, we report here that preparation of a PLR occurs in parallel with preparation of a saccadic eye movement towards a bright (or dark) stimulus, even before the eyes set in motion. Participants fixated a central gray area and made a saccade towards a peripheral target. Using gaze-contingent display changes, we manipulated whether or not the brightness of the target background was the same during and after saccade preparation. More specifically, on some trials we changed the brightness of the target background as soon as the eyes set in motion, thus dissociating the preparatory PLR (i.e. to the brightness of the target background before the saccade) from the 'regular' PLR (i.e. to the brightness after the saccade). We show that a PLR to the brightness of the to-be-fixated target background is prepared before the eyes set in motion. This reduces the latency of the PLR by approximately 100 ms. We link our findings to the pre-saccadic shift of attention: The pupil prepares to adjusts its size to the brightness of a to-be-fixated stimulus as soon as attention covertly shifts towards that stimulus, about 100 ms before a saccade is executed. Our findings illustrate that the PLR is a dynamic movement that is tightly linked to visual attention and eye-movement preparation.

scholarly journals The pupillary light response reflects eye-movement preparation

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastiaan Mathôt ◽  
Lotje van der Linden ◽  
Jonathan Grainger ◽  
Françoise Vitu
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movement ◽  
Light Response ◽  
Movement Preparation ◽  
Saccadic Eye Movement ◽  
Cognitive Influences ◽  
Gray Area ◽  
Dynamic Movement ◽  
Pupillary Light ◽  
Central Gray ◽  
Saccade Preparation

When the eyes are exposed to an increased influx of light, the pupils constrict. The pupillary light response (PLR) is traditionally believed to be purely reflexive and not susceptible to cognitive influences. In contrast to this traditional view, we report here that preparation of a PLR occurs in parallel with preparation of a saccadic eye movement towards a bright (or dark) stimulus, even before the eyes set in motion. Participants fixated a central gray area and made a saccade towards a peripheral target. Using gaze-contingent display changes, we manipulated whether or not the brightness of the target background was the same during and after saccade preparation. More specifically, on some trials we changed the brightness of the target background as soon as the eyes set in motion, thus dissociating the preparatory PLR (i.e. to the brightness of the target background before the saccade) from the 'regular' PLR (i.e. to the brightness after the saccade). We show that a PLR to the brightness of the to-be-fixated target background is prepared before the eyes set in motion. This reduces the latency of the PLR by approximately 100 ms. We link our findings to the pre-saccadic shift of attention: The pupil prepares to adjusts its size to the brightness of a to-be-fixated stimulus as soon as attention covertly shifts towards that stimulus, about 100 ms before a saccade is executed. Our findings illustrate that the PLR is a dynamic movement that is tightly linked to visual attention and eye-movement preparation.

scholarly journals The pupillary light response reflects eye-movement preparation

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (10) ◽  
pp. 203-203
Author(s):  
S. Mathot ◽  
L. van der Linden ◽  
G. Jonathan ◽  
F. Vitu
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movement ◽  
Light Response ◽  
Movement Preparation ◽  
Pupillary Light
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