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Who hasn't found it difficult to concentrate, given the constant demands on our attention? In this context, it's more important than ever to understand the brain mechanisms that regulate concentration and memorization. A new American study may provide some answers.
Who hasn't found it difficult to concentrate, given the constant demands on our attention? In this context, it's more important than ever to understand the brain mechanisms that regulate concentration and memorization. A new American study may provide some answers.
This research, published in the journal Attention, Perception & Psychophysics, focuses on working memory. This form of short-term memory enables us to process events, words, dates or images in a temporary way, in order to use them to accomplish a task. This is what enables us, for example, to perform a mental calculation or remember a telephone number long enough to write it down.
Neuroscientists have found that working memory varies considerably from one individual to another, without being able to explain exactly why. Matthew Robinson and Lauren Garner of the University of Texas at Arlington have tried to unravel this mystery by exploring whether pupil dilation can be a good indicator of working memory.
Several scientific studies have highlighted the fact that our pupils don't just react to light. They dilate when we're wide awake, paying close attention or making a major cognitive effort. The researchers set out to determine whether the diameter of the pupils changes when we perform a task requiring the activation of our working memory.
To do this, the researchers asked 179 volunteers to perform various exercises in which they had to memorize information over short periods of time. During this time, an eye-tracking device continuously measured the dilation of their pupils.
It turned out that participants whose pupils dilated more intensely and consistently tended to perform better on memory tests. "Importantly, we found high performers also showed more pupil sensitivity compared to low-performing participants. This is exciting research because it adds another valuable piece of the puzzle to our understanding of why working memory varies between individuals," explains Lauren Garner in a news release.
The discovery of this correlation between pupil dilation and working memory points to an intriguing relationship between the brain and the eyes. Nevertheless, the small sample size of participants means that it is impossible to state with certainty that the pupils are activated when working memory is at work.
