Post

Sebastiaan Mathôt
@cogsci.nl

Participants viewed flashes, triggering an initial burst of retinal activity followed by pupil constriction. We then used trial-to-trial variability in constriction latency to reveal a previously unknown retinal response that is locked to pupil constriction, rather than to visual stimulation. 2/4 🧵

Sebastiaan Mathôt
@cogsci.nl

We observed a similar (but weaker) constriction-locked response later over visual cortex. Given these findings, an important open question is how the visual system maintains brightness constancy despite pupil-induced retinal and cortical activity. 3/4 🧵

Sebastiaan Mathôt
@cogsci.nl

I think this is an important new finding, which matches (and was inspired by) recent mouse studies from the group of @santiagorompani.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41... 4/4 🧵

nature.comPupil size modulation drives retinal activity in mice and shapes human perception - Nature CommunicationsThe pupil is known to assist retinal adaptation to light level changes. Here, the authors find a mechanism for how the pupillary light reflex drives monocular and binocular retinal activity in mice an...