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Cited by 466Neural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesDecision-Making and Behavioral EconomicsVisual perception and processing mechanisms

Pupil-linked arousal is driven by decision uncertainty and alters serial choice bias

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Urai, Anne E., Braun, Anke, Donner, Tobias H.·2017·Nature Communications
DOI 10.1038/ncomms14637PMC PMC5337963
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Abstract

While judging their sensory environments, decision-makers seem to use the uncertainty about their choices to guide adjustments of their subsequent behaviour. One possible source of these behavioural adjustments is arousal: decision uncertainty might drive the brain’s arousal systems, which control global brain state and might thereby shape subsequent decision-making. Here, we measure pupil diameter, a proxy for central arousal state, in human observers performing a perceptual choice task of varying difficulty. Pupil dilation, after choice but before external feedback, reflects three hallmark signatures of decision uncertainty derived from a computational model. This increase in pupil-linked arousal boosts observers’ tendency to alternate their choice on the subsequent trial. We conclude that decision uncertainty drives rapid changes in pupil-linked arousal state, which shape the serial correlation structure of ongoing choice behaviour.

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  • The folded X pattern has been used as a marker of confidence-related physiological and neural signals.

    “and has been used as a marker of confidence-related physiological and neural signals (Urai et al. 2017).”

    From Metacognition and Confidence: A Review and Synthesis (2024) · cites this paper as Urai et al. 2017

    The Results (‘Pupil responses reflect decision uncertainty’; page unavailable) report opposite relationships between pupil dilation and evidence strength on correct versus error trials, supporting the claimed pattern as a physiological marker of decision uncertainty. The paper does not establish its use as a marker of neural signals; it discusses neural models but measures pupil responses, not neural activity. (LLM, conf=0.85)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

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Authors
Urai, A. E., Braun, A., & Donner, T. H.
Affiliations
University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (DE)
Corresponding author
  • Urai, Anne E.
  • Donner, Tobias H.
ORCID
Venue
Nature Communications
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2017-03-03
Volume
8
Issue
1
Pages
14637-14637
ISSN
2041-1723 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1038/ncomms14637
PMC
PMC5337963
OpenAlex
W2594002025
Cited by
466
References
13
Citations by year
2026: 52 · 2025: 52 · 2024: 51 · 2023: 79 · 2022: 61 · 2021: 44 · 2020: 51 · 2019: 38 · 2018: 26 · 2017: 11
FWCI
19.77
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Nature Communications (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Leiden Repository (Leiden University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • UvA-DARE (University of Amsterdam) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
  • European Commission (604102, 2007–2013, FP7 2007-2013, FP7/2007)
  • Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (FP7/2007-2013)
  • Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DO1240-3-1, SFB 936/Z1, SFB 936, 1240/2-1, FP7/2007–2013, DO 1240/2‐1, SFB 936/A7)
  • Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (604102, FP7 2007-2013)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
  • Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › General Decision Sciences › Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Visual perception and processing mechanisms
Keywords
pupil-linked arousal, pupil dilation, decision uncertainty, perceptual decision making, decision difficulty, serial correlation, computational models of decision making
MeSH terms
Adult, Arousal, Choice Behavior, Female, Humans, Male, Models, Biological, Psychomotor Performance, Pupil, Reaction Time, Feedback, Physiological, Uncertainty, Young Adult, Healthy Volunteers

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