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Pupil fluctuations track rapid changes in adrenergic and cholinergic activity in cortex

Author

Listed:
  • Jacob Reimer

    (Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza)

  • Matthew J McGinley

    (Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza
    Yale University)

  • Yang Liu

    (Columbia University)

  • Charles Rodenkirch

    (Columbia University)

  • Qi Wang

    (Columbia University)

  • David A McCormick

    (Yale University)

  • Andreas S Tolias

    (Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza
    Rice University)

Abstract

Rapid variations in cortical state during wakefulness have a strong influence on neural and behavioural responses and are tightly coupled to changes in pupil size across species. However, the physiological processes linking cortical state and pupil variations are largely unknown. Here we demonstrate that these rapid variations, during both quiet waking and locomotion, are highly correlated with fluctuations in the activity of corticopetal noradrenergic and cholinergic projections. Rapid dilations of the pupil are tightly associated with phasic activity in noradrenergic axons, whereas longer-lasting dilations of the pupil, such as during locomotion, are accompanied by sustained activity in cholinergic axons. Thus, the pupil can be used to sensitively track the activity in multiple neuromodulatory transmitter systems as they control the state of the waking brain.

Suggested Citation

  • Jacob Reimer & Matthew J McGinley & Yang Liu & Charles Rodenkirch & Qi Wang & David A McCormick & Andreas S Tolias, 2016. "Pupil fluctuations track rapid changes in adrenergic and cholinergic activity in cortex," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 7(1), pages 1-7, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:7:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms13289
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms13289
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    Cited by:

    1. Peter Vincent & Thomas Parr & David Benrimoh & Karl J Friston, 2019. "With an eye on uncertainty: Modelling pupillary responses to environmental volatility," PLOS Computational Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(7), pages 1-22, July.
    2. Joseph W. MacInnes & Roopali Bhatnagar, 2017. "Where Does Attention Go When Facilitation is Absent?," HSE Working papers WP BRP 85/PSY/2017, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    3. Maxim A. Ulanov & Yury Y. Shtyrov & Tatiana A. Stroganova, 2017. "Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation as a Tool to Induce Language Recovery in Patients with Post-Stroke Aphasia: An Overview of Studies," HSE Working papers WP BRP 86/PSY/2017, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    4. Péter Pajkossy & Mihály Racsmány, 2019. "How the size of the to-be-learned material influences the encoding and later retrieval of associative memories: A pupillometric assessment," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(12), pages 1-20, December.
    5. Florent Meyniel, 2020. "Brain dynamics for confidence-weighted learning," PLOS Computational Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(6), pages 1-27, June.
    6. Sarah Nadine Meissner & Marc Bächinger & Sanne Kikkert & Jenny Imhof & Silvia Missura & Manuel Carro Dominguez & Nicole Wenderoth, 2024. "Self-regulating arousal via pupil-based biofeedback," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 8(1), pages 43-62, January.

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