Guest Lecture of Prof. Dr. Bruno Laeng

Guest Lecture of Prof. Dr. Bruno Laeng

From Oslo University

Date: 12th February 2014, 18h c.t.

Venue: Building A2 4, Room 2.16

Topic: Pupillometry and Cognitive Processing

Abstract:

The measurement of the eye's pupil diameter (in short “pupillometry”) has played a significant role within the field of psychology for at least half a century. This line of research has shown that pupillary responses can provide an estimate of the ‘intensity’ of mental activity and of ‘changes’ in mental states, particularly of changes in the ‘allocation’ of attention and the ‘consolidation’ of perceptions and memories. Pupillary changes can provide a continuous measure of cognitive processing regardless of whether the participant is aware of such a processing is taking place. Recent research in neuroscience has also thrown light on a relation between the activity of the locus coeruleus (i.e., the brain’s “hub” of the noradrenergic system) and pupillary diameter. These neurophysiological findings can provide new important insights to the meaning of pupillary responses for mental activity, in particular attention and consciousness.