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Lazar R, Degen J, Fiechter AS, Monticelli A, Spitschan M. Regulation of pupil size in natural vision across the human lifespan. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2024; 11:191613. [PMID: 39100191 PMCID: PMC11295891 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.191613] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2019] [Accepted: 02/27/2024] [Indexed: 08/06/2024]
Abstract
Vision is mediated by light passing through the pupil, which changes in diameter from approximately 2 to 8 mm between bright and dark illumination. With age, mean pupil size declines. In laboratory experiments, factors affecting pupil size can be experimentally controlled. How the pupil reflects the change in retinal input from the visual environment under natural viewing conditions is unclear. We address this question in a field experiment (N = 83, 43 female, 18-87 years) using a custom-made wearable video-based eye tracker with a spectroradiometer measuring near-corneal spectral irradiance. Participants moved in and between indoor and outdoor environments varying in spectrum and engaged in a range of everyday tasks. Our data confirm that light-adapted pupil size is determined by light level, with a better model fit of melanopic over photopic units, and that it decreased with increasing age, yielding steeper slopes at lower light levels. We found no indication that sex, iris colour or reported caffeine consumption affects pupil size. Our exploratory results point to a role of photoreceptor integration in controlling steady-state pupil size. The data provide evidence for considering age in personalized lighting solutions and against the use of photopic illuminance alone to assess the impact of real-world lighting conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rafael Lazar
- Centre for Chronobiology, Psychiatric Hospital of the University of Basel, Switzerland
- Research Cluster Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, Switzerland
- Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, Switzerland
| | - Josefine Degen
- Centre for Chronobiology, Psychiatric Hospital of the University of Basel, Switzerland
| | - Ann-Sophie Fiechter
- Centre for Chronobiology, Psychiatric Hospital of the University of Basel, Switzerland
| | - Aurora Monticelli
- Centre for Chronobiology, Psychiatric Hospital of the University of Basel, Switzerland
| | - Manuel Spitschan
- Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Translational Sensory & Circadian Neuroscience, Tübingen, Germany
- TUM School of Medicine & Health, Chronobiology & Health, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
- TUM Institute for Advanced Study (TUM-IAS), Technical University of Munich, Garching, Germany
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Abstract
The size of the pupil depends on light level. Watson and Yellott (2012) developed a unified formula to predict pupil size from luminance, field diameter, age, and number of eyes. Luminance reflects input from the L and M cones in the retina but ignores the contribution of intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) expressing the photopigment melanopsin, which are known to control the size of the pupil. We discuss the role of melanopsin in controlling pupil size by reanalyzing an extant data set (Bouma, 1962). We confirm that melanopsin-weighted quantities, in conjunction with Watson and Yellott's formula, adequately model intensity-dependent pupil size. We discuss the contributions of other photoreceptors into pupil control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manuel Spitschan
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.,Centre for Chronobiology, Psychiatric Hospital of the University of Basel (UPK), Basel, Switzerland.,Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
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Kelbsch C, Strasser T, Chen Y, Feigl B, Gamlin PD, Kardon R, Peters T, Roecklein KA, Steinhauer SR, Szabadi E, Zele AJ, Wilhelm H, Wilhelm BJ. Standards in Pupillography. Front Neurol 2019; 10:129. [PMID: 30853933 PMCID: PMC6395400 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2019.00129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 100] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2018] [Accepted: 01/31/2019] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
The number of research groups studying the pupil is increasing, as is the number of publications. Consequently, new standards in pupillography are needed to formalize the methodology including recording conditions, stimulus characteristics, as well as suitable parameters of evaluation. Since the description of intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) there has been an increased interest and broader application of pupillography in ophthalmology as well as other fields including psychology and chronobiology. Color pupillography plays an important role not only in research but also in clinical observational and therapy studies like gene therapy of hereditary retinal degenerations and psychopathology. Stimuli can vary in size, brightness, duration, and wavelength. Stimulus paradigms determine whether rhodopsin-driven rod responses, opsin-driven cone responses, or melanopsin-driven ipRGC responses are primarily elicited. Background illumination, adaptation state, and instruction for the participants will furthermore influence the results. This standard recommends a minimum set of variables to be used for pupillography and specified in the publication methodologies. Initiated at the 32nd International Pupil Colloquium 2017 in Morges, Switzerland, the aim of this manuscript is to outline standards in pupillography based on current knowledge and experience of pupil experts in order to achieve greater comparability of pupillographic studies. Such standards will particularly facilitate the proper application of pupillography by researchers new to the field. First we describe general standards, followed by specific suggestions concerning the demands of different targets of pupil research: the afferent and efferent reflex arc, pharmacology, psychology, sleepiness-related research and animal studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carina Kelbsch
- Pupil Research Group, Centre for Ophthalmology, University Hospitals Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Torsten Strasser
- Pupil Research Group, Centre for Ophthalmology, University Hospitals Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Yanjun Chen
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, AL, United States
| | - Beatrix Feigl
- Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- Queensland Eye Institute, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Paul D. Gamlin
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States
| | - Randy Kardon
- Neuro-Ophthalmology Division, University of Iowa and Iowa City VA Healthcare System, Iowa City, LA, United States
| | - Tobias Peters
- Pupil Research Group, Centre for Ophthalmology, University Hospitals Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Kathryn A. Roecklein
- Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - Stuart R. Steinhauer
- VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, VISN 4 MIRECC, University Drive C, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - Elemer Szabadi
- Developmental Psychiatry, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Andrew J. Zele
- Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- School of Optometry and Vision Science, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Helmut Wilhelm
- Pupil Research Group, Centre for Ophthalmology, University Hospitals Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Barbara J. Wilhelm
- Pupil Research Group, Centre for Ophthalmology, University Hospitals Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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Veitch JA, McColl SL. A critical examination of perceptual and cognitive effects attributed to full-spectrum fluorescent lighting. ERGONOMICS 2001; 44:255-279. [PMID: 11219759 DOI: 10.1080/00140130121241] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
Full-spectrum fluorescent lighting (FSFL) has been credited with causing dramatic improvements in vision, perception and cognitive performance as compared with other fluorescent lamp types. These effects are hypothesized to occur because of similarity between FSFL emissions and daylight, which is said to have evolutionary superiority over other light sources. This review, covering 1945-98, critically considers the evidence for these claims. In general, poor-quality research has resulted in an absence of simple deterministic effects that can be confidently attributed to fluorescent lamp type. Promising avenues for lighting behaviour research include investigations of cognitive mediators of lighting-behaviour relationships, and flicker rates and colour rendering effects on visual processing, appearance judgements and affect. Good lighting solutions are more complex than lamp type specification.
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Affiliation(s)
- J A Veitch
- Institute for Research in Construction, National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
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