Pupillometric evidence for the decoupling of attention from perceptual input during offline thought.
Accumulating evidence suggests that the brain can efficiently process both external and internal information. The processing of internal information is a distinct "offline" cognitive mode that requires not only spontaneously generated mental activity; it has also been hypothesized to requi...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2011-03-01
|
| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/21464969/?tool=EBI |
| _version_ | 1818735221108899840 |
|---|---|
| author | Jonathan Smallwood Kevin S Brown Christine Tipper Barry Giesbrecht Michael S Franklin Michael D Mrazek Jean M Carlson Jonathan W Schooler |
| author_facet | Jonathan Smallwood Kevin S Brown Christine Tipper Barry Giesbrecht Michael S Franklin Michael D Mrazek Jean M Carlson Jonathan W Schooler |
| author_sort | Jonathan Smallwood |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Accumulating evidence suggests that the brain can efficiently process both external and internal information. The processing of internal information is a distinct "offline" cognitive mode that requires not only spontaneously generated mental activity; it has also been hypothesized to require a decoupling of attention from perception in order to separate competing streams of internal and external information. This process of decoupling is potentially adaptive because it could prevent unimportant external events from disrupting an internal train of thought. Here, we use measurements of pupil diameter (PD) to provide concrete evidence for the role of decoupling during spontaneous cognitive activity. First, during periods conducive to offline thought but not during periods of task focus, PD exhibited spontaneous activity decoupled from task events. Second, periods requiring external task focus were characterized by large task evoked changes in PD; in contrast, encoding failures were preceded by episodes of high spontaneous baseline PD activity. Finally, high spontaneous PD activity also occurred prior to only the slowest 20% of correct responses, suggesting high baseline PD indexes a distinct mode of cognitive functioning. Together, these data are consistent with the decoupling hypothesis, which suggests that the capacity for spontaneous cognitive activity depends upon minimizing disruptions from the external world. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-18T00:17:48Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-70c3f32f4c7744938891c48274de86f5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-18T00:17:48Z |
| publishDate | 2011-03-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-70c3f32f4c7744938891c48274de86f52022-12-21T21:27:26ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032011-03-0163e1829810.1371/journal.pone.0018298Pupillometric evidence for the decoupling of attention from perceptual input during offline thought.Jonathan SmallwoodKevin S BrownChristine TipperBarry GiesbrechtMichael S FranklinMichael D MrazekJean M CarlsonJonathan W SchoolerAccumulating evidence suggests that the brain can efficiently process both external and internal information. The processing of internal information is a distinct "offline" cognitive mode that requires not only spontaneously generated mental activity; it has also been hypothesized to require a decoupling of attention from perception in order to separate competing streams of internal and external information. This process of decoupling is potentially adaptive because it could prevent unimportant external events from disrupting an internal train of thought. Here, we use measurements of pupil diameter (PD) to provide concrete evidence for the role of decoupling during spontaneous cognitive activity. First, during periods conducive to offline thought but not during periods of task focus, PD exhibited spontaneous activity decoupled from task events. Second, periods requiring external task focus were characterized by large task evoked changes in PD; in contrast, encoding failures were preceded by episodes of high spontaneous baseline PD activity. Finally, high spontaneous PD activity also occurred prior to only the slowest 20% of correct responses, suggesting high baseline PD indexes a distinct mode of cognitive functioning. Together, these data are consistent with the decoupling hypothesis, which suggests that the capacity for spontaneous cognitive activity depends upon minimizing disruptions from the external world.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/21464969/?tool=EBI |
| spellingShingle | Jonathan Smallwood Kevin S Brown Christine Tipper Barry Giesbrecht Michael S Franklin Michael D Mrazek Jean M Carlson Jonathan W Schooler Pupillometric evidence for the decoupling of attention from perceptual input during offline thought. PLoS ONE |
| title | Pupillometric evidence for the decoupling of attention from perceptual input during offline thought. |
| title_full | Pupillometric evidence for the decoupling of attention from perceptual input during offline thought. |
| title_fullStr | Pupillometric evidence for the decoupling of attention from perceptual input during offline thought. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Pupillometric evidence for the decoupling of attention from perceptual input during offline thought. |
| title_short | Pupillometric evidence for the decoupling of attention from perceptual input during offline thought. |
| title_sort | pupillometric evidence for the decoupling of attention from perceptual input during offline thought |
| url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/21464969/?tool=EBI |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jonathansmallwood pupillometricevidenceforthedecouplingofattentionfromperceptualinputduringofflinethought AT kevinsbrown pupillometricevidenceforthedecouplingofattentionfromperceptualinputduringofflinethought AT christinetipper pupillometricevidenceforthedecouplingofattentionfromperceptualinputduringofflinethought AT barrygiesbrecht pupillometricevidenceforthedecouplingofattentionfromperceptualinputduringofflinethought AT michaelsfranklin pupillometricevidenceforthedecouplingofattentionfromperceptualinputduringofflinethought AT michaeldmrazek pupillometricevidenceforthedecouplingofattentionfromperceptualinputduringofflinethought AT jeanmcarlson pupillometricevidenceforthedecouplingofattentionfromperceptualinputduringofflinethought AT jonathanwschooler pupillometricevidenceforthedecouplingofattentionfromperceptualinputduringofflinethought |