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Attention Cueing in Rivalry: Insights from Pupillometry
Miriam Acquafredda1,2, Paola Binda3, Claudia Lunghi4
1Department of Neuroscience, Psychology, Pharmacology and Child Health, University of Florence, Florence 50135, Italy.
Eneuro
|June 6, 2022
Summary
Pupillometry reveals that pupil size tracks perceived luminance during binocular rivalry. Endogenous attention influences perception but not pupil responses during exclusive dominance, suggesting attention acts during competition, not by altering perceptual strength.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Visual Perception
- Psychophysics
Background:
- Binocular rivalry involves competing visual stimuli presented to each eye, leading to alternating perception.
- Attention is known to influence perceptual dominance in rivalry paradigms.
- Pupillometry has been used to reflect cognitive and arousal states, but its link to perceptual strength in rivalry is less explored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between attention cueing and perceptual stability using pupillometry.
- To examine whether endogenous attention modulates pupil diameter during different phases of binocular and interocular grouping rivalry.
- To determine if attention affects perceptual strength or acts during periods of perceptual competition.
Main Methods:
- Adult human observers performed tasks involving binocular rivalry and interocular grouping rivalry.
- Pupillometry measured pupil diameter, while participants reported perceptual alternations.
- Endogenous attention was cued to one of the rivaling stimuli.
Main Results:
- Subtle pupil size modulations tracked alternations between exclusive dominance phases, correlating with perceived luminance.
- Pupil responses were larger for perceptually stronger stimuli (dominant eye, higher contrast).
- Attention cueing shifted perceptual dominance by ~10% but did not significantly affect pupil modulations during exclusive dominance phases.
Conclusions:
- Pupillometry serves as a reliable indirect measure of perceived stimulus strength during rivalry.
- Endogenous attention does not appear to modulate perceptual strength during exclusive dominance phases.
- Attention may primarily act during transition periods or unresolved competition, rather than altering the strength of established percepts.
