Pupil size is an autonomic measure that is influenced by both sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system activity, making it a promising physiological marker for fear learning. Results from previous studies show that pupil dilation serves as an indicator of both arousal and cognitive engagement in fear conditioning paradigms. Because pupil size response is a relatively new measure in fear conditioning research, a variety of analytical methods have been used to evaluate it. These methods are often based on peak detection or averaging for fixed time windows, which cannot capture the temporal dynamics of the pupil size response. However, these methods cannot fully capture the complex interplay between autonomic processes. To solve this problem, Enzo Nio (A05) now wants to explore a more data-driven approach with his new project – temporal principal component analysis (tPCA). Enzo describes his project as follows:

In this study, we apply temporal principal component analysis (tPCA) to pupil size time-series from the fear acquisition and fear extinction phases of a three-day fear-conditioning experiment. We hypothesize tPCA will reveal distinct components that differentiate arousal responses from the conditioned fear response. To our knowledge, no prior studies have examined the use of tPCA for isolating distinct autonomic components in pupil size responses in the context of fear learning. We expect to refine the temporal characterization of autonomic fear responses and establish a method for quantifying distinct arousal and learning-related pupillary patterns. This approach could contribute to biomarker development for fear learning and provide a foundation for applying tPCA to other measures, such as skin conductance response, in fear conditioning research.

The SFB 1280 has set up a budget for its young scientists to realize their own research ideas. We use the “treasure chest” to finance convincing and independent study concepts of our early career researchers.