Pupil diameter as an indicator of sound pair familiarity after statistically structured auditory sequence

TY - JOUR

T1 - Pupil diameter as an indicator of sound pair familiarity after statistically structured auditory sequence

AU - Becker, Janika

AU - Korn, Christoph W

AU - Blank, Helen

N1 - © 2024. The Author(s).

PY - 2024/4/16

Y1 - 2024/4/16

N2 - Inspired by recent findings in the visual domain, we investigated whether the stimulus-evoked pupil dilation reflects temporal statistical regularities in sequences of auditory stimuli. We conducted two preregistered pupillometry experiments (experiment 1, n = 30, 21 females; experiment 2, n = 31, 22 females). In both experiments, human participants listened to sequences of spoken vowels in two conditions. In the first condition, the stimuli were presented in a random order and, in the second condition, the same stimuli were presented in a sequence structured in pairs. The second experiment replicated the first experiment with a modified timing and number of stimuli presented and without participants being informed about any sequence structure. The sound-evoked pupil dilation during a subsequent familiarity task indicated that participants learned the auditory vowel pairs of the structured condition. However, pupil diameter during the structured sequence did not differ according to the statistical regularity of the pair structure. This contrasts with similar visual studies, emphasizing the susceptibility of pupil effects during statistically structured sequences to experimental design settings in the auditory domain. In sum, our findings suggest that pupil diameter may serve as an indicator of sound pair familiarity but does not invariably respond to task-irrelevant transition probabilities of auditory sequences.

AB - Inspired by recent findings in the visual domain, we investigated whether the stimulus-evoked pupil dilation reflects temporal statistical regularities in sequences of auditory stimuli. We conducted two preregistered pupillometry experiments (experiment 1, n = 30, 21 females; experiment 2, n = 31, 22 females). In both experiments, human participants listened to sequences of spoken vowels in two conditions. In the first condition, the stimuli were presented in a random order and, in the second condition, the same stimuli were presented in a sequence structured in pairs. The second experiment replicated the first experiment with a modified timing and number of stimuli presented and without participants being informed about any sequence structure. The sound-evoked pupil dilation during a subsequent familiarity task indicated that participants learned the auditory vowel pairs of the structured condition. However, pupil diameter during the structured sequence did not differ according to the statistical regularity of the pair structure. This contrasts with similar visual studies, emphasizing the susceptibility of pupil effects during statistically structured sequences to experimental design settings in the auditory domain. In sum, our findings suggest that pupil diameter may serve as an indicator of sound pair familiarity but does not invariably respond to task-irrelevant transition probabilities of auditory sequences.

KW - Female

KW - Humans

KW - Pupil/physiology

KW - Sound

KW - Recognition, Psychology

KW - Auditory Perception/physiology

U2 - 10.1038/s41598-024-59302-1

DO - 10.1038/s41598-024-59302-1

M3 - SCORING: Journal article

C2 - 38627572

VL - 14

SP - 8739

JO - SCI REP-UK

JF - SCI REP-UK

SN - 2045-2322

IS - 1

ER -