Frequency analysis of a task-evoked pupillary response: Luminance-independent measure of mental effort

Pupil diameter is a widely-studied cognitive load measure, which, despite its convenience for non-intrusive operator state monitoring in complex environments, is still not available for in situ measurements because of numerous methodological limitations. The most important of these limitations is the influence of pupillary light reflex. Hence, there is the need of providing a pupil-based cognitive load measure that is independent of light conditions. In this paper, we present a promising technique of pupillary signal analysis resulting in luminance-independent measure of mental effort that could be used in real-time without a priori on luminous conditions. Twenty-two participants performed a short-term memory task under different screen luminance conditions. Our results showed that the amplitude of pupillary dilation due to load on memory was luminance-dependent with higher amplitude corresponding to lower-luminance condition. Furthermore, our experimentation showed that load on memory and luminance factors express themselves differently according to frequency. Therefore, as our statistical analysis revealed, the ratio between low (0–1.6Hz) and high frequency (1.6–4Hz) bands (LF/HF ratio) of power spectral densities of pupillary signal is sensitive to the cognitive load but not to luminance. Our results are promising for the measurement of load on memory in ecological settings. •The amplitude of task-evoked pupillary response (TEPR) depends on luminance conditions.•For the same amount of load on memory, TEPR is larger under dimmer screen conditions.•Load on memory and luminance conditions impact differently pupillary frequency components.•A ratio of power spectral densities of TEPR can isolate load on memory from luminance effect.