Pupil diameter encodes the idiosyncratic, cognitive complexity of belief updating
Pupils tend to dilate in response to surprising events, but it is not known whether these responses are primarily stimulus driven or instead reflect a more nuanced relationship between pupil-linked arousal systems and cognitive expectations. Using an auditory adaptive decision-making task, we show t...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
eLife Sciences Publications Ltd
2020-05-01
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| Series: | eLife |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://elifesciences.org/articles/57872 |
| _version_ | 1811201234851332096 |
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| author | Alexandre LS Filipowicz Christopher M Glaze Joseph W Kable Joshua I Gold |
| author_facet | Alexandre LS Filipowicz Christopher M Glaze Joseph W Kable Joshua I Gold |
| author_sort | Alexandre LS Filipowicz |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Pupils tend to dilate in response to surprising events, but it is not known whether these responses are primarily stimulus driven or instead reflect a more nuanced relationship between pupil-linked arousal systems and cognitive expectations. Using an auditory adaptive decision-making task, we show that evoked pupil diameter is more parsimoniously described as signaling violations of learned, top-down expectations than changes in low-level stimulus properties. We further show that both baseline and evoked pupil diameter is modulated by the degree to which individual subjects use these violations to update their subsequent expectations, as reflected in the complexity of their updating strategy. Together these results demonstrate a central role for idiosyncratic cognitive processing in how arousal systems respond to new inputs and, via our complexity-based analyses, offer a potential framework for understanding these effects in terms of both inference processes aimed to reduce belief uncertainty and more traditional notions of mental effort. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T02:17:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2711a6c2cc32404cbd12d203d2f00a67 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2050-084X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T02:17:36Z |
| publishDate | 2020-05-01 |
| publisher | eLife Sciences Publications Ltd |
| record_format | Article |
| series | eLife |
| spelling | doaj.art-2711a6c2cc32404cbd12d203d2f00a672022-12-22T03:52:12ZengeLife Sciences Publications LtdeLife2050-084X2020-05-01910.7554/eLife.57872Pupil diameter encodes the idiosyncratic, cognitive complexity of belief updatingAlexandre LS Filipowicz0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1311-386XChristopher M Glaze1Joseph W Kable2Joshua I Gold3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6018-0483Departments of Neursocience, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, United States; Departments of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, United States; Departments of Computational Neuroscience Initiative, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, United StatesDepartments of Neursocience, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, United States; Departments of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, United States; Departments of Computational Neuroscience Initiative, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, United StatesDepartments of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, United States; Departments of Computational Neuroscience Initiative, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, United StatesDepartments of Neursocience, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, United States; Departments of Computational Neuroscience Initiative, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, United StatesPupils tend to dilate in response to surprising events, but it is not known whether these responses are primarily stimulus driven or instead reflect a more nuanced relationship between pupil-linked arousal systems and cognitive expectations. Using an auditory adaptive decision-making task, we show that evoked pupil diameter is more parsimoniously described as signaling violations of learned, top-down expectations than changes in low-level stimulus properties. We further show that both baseline and evoked pupil diameter is modulated by the degree to which individual subjects use these violations to update their subsequent expectations, as reflected in the complexity of their updating strategy. Together these results demonstrate a central role for idiosyncratic cognitive processing in how arousal systems respond to new inputs and, via our complexity-based analyses, offer a potential framework for understanding these effects in terms of both inference processes aimed to reduce belief uncertainty and more traditional notions of mental effort.https://elifesciences.org/articles/57872pupillometrydecision-makingbelief updatingsurpriseuncertaintycomplexity |
| spellingShingle | Alexandre LS Filipowicz Christopher M Glaze Joseph W Kable Joshua I Gold Pupil diameter encodes the idiosyncratic, cognitive complexity of belief updating eLife pupillometry decision-making belief updating surprise uncertainty complexity |
| title | Pupil diameter encodes the idiosyncratic, cognitive complexity of belief updating |
| title_full | Pupil diameter encodes the idiosyncratic, cognitive complexity of belief updating |
| title_fullStr | Pupil diameter encodes the idiosyncratic, cognitive complexity of belief updating |
| title_full_unstemmed | Pupil diameter encodes the idiosyncratic, cognitive complexity of belief updating |
| title_short | Pupil diameter encodes the idiosyncratic, cognitive complexity of belief updating |
| title_sort | pupil diameter encodes the idiosyncratic cognitive complexity of belief updating |
| topic | pupillometry decision-making belief updating surprise uncertainty complexity |
| url | https://elifesciences.org/articles/57872 |
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