Fidgeting Increases Pupil Diameter During Auditory Processing in Young Healthy Adults

Background/Objectives: People often engage in small, repetitive movements-or "fidgeting"-while listening. This behavior has traditionally been regarded as a sign of inattention. However, recent perspectives suggest that these movements may support engagement and arousal regulation. Yet, little is known about how different types of fidgeting affect the allocation of cognitive resources during auditory processing. This study examined whether hand and leg fidgeting influence pupil-linked arousal and auditory task performance. Methods: Young, healthy adults aged 18-26 years completed four auditory processing tasks while performing either hand fidgeting (manipulating a small fidget toy) or leg fidgeting (very light ergometer pedaling). A control group did not fidget. Pupil-linked arousal was assessed using changes in pupil diameter, and listening performance was evaluated across tasks of varying difficulty. Results: Both forms of fidgeting caused pupil dilation compared to the control group, particularly in the case of Hand Fidgeting during the listening task with speech in noise and the fast speech task. Despite these physiological changes, there were no measurable differences in auditory task performance across conditions. Conclusions: Fidgeting modulates pupil-linked arousal without impairing auditory processing in young, healthy adults. Hand fidgeting may help sustain engagement during demanding listening tasks. However, because the fidgeting was intentional and task performance approached ceiling or floor levels, these findings should be interpreted as preliminary. Future studies should examine whether fidgeting supports arousal maintenance or listening performance in individuals with attentional vulnerabilities or auditory processing difficulties.