Daytime variations in central nervous system activation measured by a pupillographic sleepiness test
Abstract
Pupil size is regulated exclusively by the autonomic nervous system, and in darkness is proportional to the level of central sympathetic tone. Spontaneous pupillary movements, while at rest in darkness and quiet, were recorded for a period of 11 min, using infrared video pupillography. Thirteen young adults took part in a 30-h experiment lasting from 08.00 h to 14.00 h on the following day. Pupillographic testing and completion of a self-rated scale for the estimate of sleepiness were repeated every two hours. Pupillary unrest index (PUI), as a measure of pupil size instability associated with daytime sleepiness, showed the lowest values at 09.00 h, when pupil size was found to be maximal, and 23.00 h. During the course of the day, amplitude spectrum < or = 0.8 Hz and PUI showed increasing values during the afternoon hours, followed by a decrease during the evening. Daytime variations in the pupillary unrest index in healthy normal subjects were found to be positively correlated with the level of alertness. These findings are similar to the daytime variations found by the MSLT (multiple sleep latency test) in young adults.
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Drowsiness during routine tasks such as simulated driving is associated with wide variations in arousal and performance reflected by large pupil diameter fluctuations.
“In human studies, drowsiness during the performance of a routine task, such as simulated driving, can be associated with wide variations in arousal and performance that are reflected by large fluctuations in pupil diameter”
From Waking state: rapid variations modulate neural and behavioral responses (2015) · cites this paper as Wilhelm et al., 2001
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Waking state: rapid variations modulate neural and behavioral responses
McGinley, M. J., Vinck, M., Reimer, J., Batista-Brito, R., Zagha, E., Cadwell, C. R., Tolias, A. S., Cardin, J. A., & McCormick, D. A. (2015) · Neuron · doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2015.09.012 · Cited by 801 · see citing works
“In human studies, drowsiness during the performance of a routine task, such as simulated driving, can be associated with wide variations in arousal and performance that are reflected by large fluctuations in pupil diameter (Kristjansson et al., 2009; Wilhelm et al., 2001).”
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Brain State Dependence of Hippocampal Subthreshold Activity in Awake Mice
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- Authors
- Wilhelm, B., Giedke, H., Lüdtke, H., Bittner, E., Hofmann, A., & Wilhelm, H.
- Affiliations
- Universitätsklinikum Tübingen (DE)
- University of Tübingen (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Wilhelm, Barbara
- Venue
- Journal of Sleep Research
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2001-03-04
- Volume
- 10
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 1-7
- ISSN
- 0962-1105 (ISSN-L)
- 1365-2869
- OpenAlex
- W2084590006
- Cited by
- 167
- References
- 21
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 14 · 2012: 9
- FWCI
- 3.48
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Sleep Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and Work-Related Fatigue
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Sleep and Wakefulness Research
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Circadian rhythm and melatonin
- Keywords
- daytime sleepiness, pupil size, central nervous system activation, alertness, circadian variation, sympathetic tone, multiple sleep latency test
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Analysis of Variance, Attention, Central Nervous System, Circadian Rhythm, Darkness, Fatigue, Female, Humans, Light, Male, Monitoring, Physiologic, Pupil, Sleep, Sleep Deprivation, Wakefulness
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