Pupillometry tracks cognitive load and salience network activity in a working memory functional magnetic resonance imaging task.

ABSTRACT: The diameter of the human pupil tracks working memory processing and is associated with activity in the frontoparietal network. At the same time, recent neuroimaging research has linked human pupil fluctuations to activity in the salience network. In this combined functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)/pupillometry study, we recorded the pupil size of healthy human participants while they performed a blockwise organized working memory task (N-back) inside an MRI scanner in order to monitor the pupil fluctuations associated neural activity during working memory processing. We first confirmed that mean pupil size closely followed working memory load. Combining this with fMRI data, we focused on blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) correlates of mean pupil size modeled onto the task bloc

SUBMITTER: Fietz J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8720183 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature