Amnesia in your pupils: decreased pupil size during autobiographical retrieval in a case of retrograde amnesia

Increased Pupil Size during Future Thinking in a Subject with Retrograde Amnesia

Recent research has assessed pupil size during past thinking in patients with retrograde amnesia. Building on this research, we assessed pupil size during future thinking in a retrograde amnesia patient. To this end, we measured pupil size during past and future thinking in L, a 19-year-old, right-handed man free of neurological/psychiatric disorders except for retrograde amnesia that occurred after an episode of fugue. During a past thinking condition, we invited L to retrieve retrograde events (i.e., events that occurred before amnesia) and anterograde events (i.e., events that occurred after amnesia). During a future thinking condition, we invited him to imagine events that might occur the following week, the following month, and in the new year. Past and future thinking occurred while L's pupil size was monitored with eye-tracking glasses. L demonstrated higher specificity during future than during past thinking. Critically, the results demonstrated a larger pupil size during future than during past thinking. The larger pupil size during future thinking observed in L can be attributed to the high cognitive load involved in future thinking. Our study not only demonstrates preserved future thinking in a patient with dissociative retrograde amnesia, but also shows that pupillometry can be used for the physiological assessment of future thinking in retrograde amnesia patients.

The eyes of the past: larger pupil size for autobiographical memories retrieved from field perspective

BACKGROUND

Visual perspective during memory retrieval has mainly been evaluated with methodologies based on introspection and subjective reports. The current study investigates whether visual perspective can be evaluated with a physiological measurement: pupil dilation.

METHODS

While their pupil diameter was measured with an eye-tracker, forty-five participants retrieved one memory from a field perspective (i.e., as viewed through our own eyes) and one memory from an observer perspective (i.e., as viewed from a spectator's standpoint). After retrieval, participants rated the emotional intensity of the memories.

RESULTS

Analysis demonstrated larger pupils during the retrieval of memories from a field perspective and higher emotional intensity for memories retrieved from a field perspective.

DISCUSSION

The larger pupils for memories recalled from a field perspective could, however, not be attributed to their higher emotional intensity. These findings suggest that pupil dilation could be used as a physiological assessment of visual perspective during memory retrieval.