Data from: Pupil diameter tracks lapses of attention
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Our ability to sustain attention for prolonged periods of time is limited. Studies on the relationship between lapses of attention and psychophysiological markers of attentional state, such as pupil diameter, have yielded contradicting results. Here, we investigated the relationship between tonic fluctuations in pupil diameter and performance on a demanding sustained attention task. We found robust linear relationships between baseline pupil diameter and several measures of task performance, suggesting that attentional lapses tended to occur when pupil diameter was small. However, these observations were primarily driven by the joint effects of time-on-task on baseline pupil diameter and task performance. The linear relationships disappeared when we statistically controlled for time-on-task effects and were replaced by consistent inverted U-shaped relationships between baseline pupil diameter and each of the task performance measures, such that most false alarms and the longest and most variable response times occurred when pupil diameter was both relatively small and large. Finally, we observed strong linear relationships between the temporal derivative of pupil diameter and task performance measures, which were largely independent of time-on-task. Our results help to reconcile contradicting findings in the literature on pupil-linked changes in attentional state, and are consistent with the adaptive gain theory of locus coeruleus-norepinephrine function. Moreover, they suggest that the derivative of baseline pupil diameter is a potentially useful psychophysiological marker that could be used in the on-line prediction and prevention of attentional lapses.
人类长时间维持注意力的能力存在固有局限。既往针对注意力涣散与注意力状态的心理生理标志物（如瞳孔直径 (pupil diameter)）之间关联的研究，所得结论始终存在矛盾。本研究探讨了瞳孔直径的紧张性波动与高负荷持续注意力任务作业绩效之间的关联。我们发现，基线瞳孔直径与多项任务绩效指标间存在稳健的线性相关，提示当瞳孔直径偏小时更易出现注意力涣散 (attentional lapses)。然而，上述关联主要源于任务持续时间 (time-on-task) 对基线瞳孔直径与任务绩效的共同影响。在通过统计学方法控制任务持续时间的效应后，原有的线性关联消失，取而代之的是基线瞳孔直径与各项任务绩效指标间稳定的倒U型关联：当瞳孔直径相对偏小或偏大时，虚报 (false alarms) 次数最多，且反应时 (response times) 最长、变异程度最高。此外，我们还观察到瞳孔直径的时间导数 (temporal derivative) 与任务绩效指标间存在强线性相关，且该关联基本不受任务持续时间的影响。本研究结果有助于调和此前文献中关于瞳孔关联的注意力状态变化的矛盾结论，且与蓝斑-去甲肾上腺素 (locus coeruleus-norepinephrine) 系统的适应性增益理论 (adaptive gain theory) 相符。进一步而言，研究提示基线瞳孔直径的时间导数可作为一项潜在有效的心理生理标志物，用于在线预测与预防注意力涣散。
