Pupillary Response as a Physiological Indication of Neural Resource Utilization in Those With and Without a Concussion History

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  • May 15, 2019
Creator
  • Yang, Kou
    • Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Exercise and Sport Science
Abstract
  • Pupillary response to cognitive workloads is a reliable assessment of neural resource utilization – but has not been used to investigate post-concussion physiological impairment. This study investigated the effect of concussion history, sequence length, and task performance on average change in pupil size from baseline to retention periods during a backwards digit-span task. Recreationally active college students, (10 healthy, 10 with a concussion history; age = 21.85 ± 2.13 years; 50% male), completed a backwards digit-span task (66 trials) in a virtual reality environment while recording pupil size. A generalized linear mixed model analyzed and suggested no main effects for concussion history (F1,18=0.01, P=0.906), or accuracy (F1,17=0.02, p=0.879), but a main effect of sequence length (F10,179=3.34, p<0.001). No significant interaction effect between concussion history and sequence length (F10,179=1.85, p=0.055). Pupillary response to a cognitive load shows potential in assessing neural resource utilization but future investigations should consider concussion history variability.
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  • Funding: Sarah Steele Danhoff Undergraduate Research Fund
Advisor
  • Register-Mihalik, Johna
Degree
  • Bachelor of Arts
Academic concentration
  • Exercise & Sport Science
Honors level
  • Honors
Degree granting institution
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Graduation year
  • 2019
Language
  • English

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