Uncovering Distinct Drivers of Covert Attention in Complex Environments With Pupillometry.

ABSTRACT: Spatial visual attention prioritizes specific locations while disregarding others. The location of spatial attention can be deployed without overt movements (covertly). Spatial dynamics of covert attention are exceptionally difficult to measure due to the hidden nature of covert attention. One way to implicitly index covert attention is via the pupillary light response (PLR), as the strength of PLR is modulated by where attention is allocated. However, this method has so far necessitated simplistic stimuli and targeted only one driver of covert attention per experiment. Here we report a novel pupillometric method that allows tracking multiple effects on covert attention with highly complex stimuli. Participants watched movie clips while either passively viewing or top-down shifting covert

SUBMITTER: Cai Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11920946 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature