Pupillary unrest is attenuated in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
By Eric Craypo
A new paper from the UC Berkeley Vision Science Group titled, "Pupillary unrest is attenuated in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)," has been published in the Neuroscience Letters journal. The study's objective -- led by authors Claudio M. Privitera, Sean Noah, Thom Carney, Stanley A. Klein, Agatha Lenartowicz, Stephen P. Hinshaw, James T. McCracken, Joel T. Nigg, Sarah L. Karalunas, Rory C. Reid, Mercedes Oliva, Samantha S. Betts, and Gregory V. Simpson -- was to develop and refine a visual psychophysics paradigm that could serve as a biomarker to improve ADHD evaluation and classification.
Abstract
"We investigated the phenomenon of pupillary unrest in individuals with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) compared to neurotypical controls. We measured the power of low-frequency pupil oscillations under two experimental conditions: a passive condition with minimal distraction and a resting condition with no distraction. The study included 76 adult participants (42 controls and 34 with ADHD) aged 18–40. The results show that individuals with ADHD exhibit reduced power in pupillary oscillations, suggesting a suppression of general catecholaminergic activity. The nature of the experiment indicates that this suppression is endemic in the background and independent of the visual task or the ongoing cognitive effort. This finding is consistent with our previous observations of reduced pupil dilations in ADHD during active tasks and provide basic insights for future research aimed at developing and refining a psychophysical paradigm that could serve as a biomarker to enhance ADHD evaluation and classification."
Author's Note:
This paper should be contextualized in conjunction with the an earlier paper published last year in the same journal. These two publications are essentially part of the same project, and together they provide an interesting perspective on how the pupil and a psychophysics protocol can be used to investigate attention and ADHD.
Read the Papers
Pupillary unrest is attenuated in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)