Pupillometry provides a psychophysiological index of arousal level and cognitive effort during the performance of a visual-auditory dual-task in individuals with a history of concussion.
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Small cross-sectional case-control study comparing concussed individuals to healthy controls
PubMed 33866265 · doi:10.1016/j.visres.2021.03.011
What was done
Fourteen individuals with a history of concussion and 13 non-concussed controls performed a computerized Corsi block spatial memory task of increasing difficulty (varying set sizes), completed alone (single task) and concurrently with an auditory task (dual task). Pupillometry was recorded during initial pre-task fixation to evaluate arousal and during the memory encoding phase to evaluate task-evoked pupil response.
What was found
The abstract reports directional findings without quantitative data, effect sizes, or p-values: - Pupil size during initial fixation was modulated by task condition in controls but not in the concussed group. - Task-evoked pupil dilation increased with memory set size during single-task performance in both groups. - Unlike controls, participants with a concussion history showed similar pupil sizes across single- and dual-task conditions.
Why it matters
This suggests pupillometry can detect altered cognitive effort and capacity limits during challenging executive function tasks in individuals with persistent post-concussion symptoms.
Limits
Very small sample size (n = 27 total). The abstract provides no quantitative data, variance, or p-values. Concussion characteristics (time since injury, number or severity of concussions) and behavioral task performance metrics are not detailed in the abstract.