Pupil size reveals arousal level fluctuations in human sleep

Manuel Carro-Domínguez, Stephanie Huwiler, Stella Oberlin, Timona Leandra Oesch, Gabriela Badii, Anita Lüthi, Nicole Wenderoth, Sarah Nadine Meissner and Caroline Lustenberger ()
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Manuel Carro-Domínguez: ETH Zurich
Stephanie Huwiler: ETH Zurich
Stella Oberlin: ETH Zurich
Timona Leandra Oesch: ETH Zurich
Gabriela Badii: FMH Ophthalmology
Anita Lüthi: University of Lausanne
Nicole Wenderoth: ETH Zurich
Sarah Nadine Meissner: ETH Zurich
Caroline Lustenberger: ETH Zurich

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-14

Abstract: Abstract Recent animal research has revealed the intricate dynamics of arousal levels that are important for maintaining proper sleep resilience and memory consolidation. In humans, changes in arousal level are believed to be a determining characteristic of healthy and pathological sleep but tracking arousal level fluctuations has been methodologically challenging. Here we measured pupil size, an established indicator of arousal levels, by safely taping the right eye open during overnight sleep and tested whether pupil size affects cortical response to auditory stimulation. We show that pupil size dynamics change as a function of important sleep events across different temporal scales. In particular, our results show pupil size to be inversely related to the occurrence of sleep spindle clusters, a marker of sleep resilience. Additionally, we found pupil size prior to auditory stimulation to influence the evoked response, most notably in delta power, a marker of several restorative and regenerative functions of sleep. Recording pupil size dynamics provides insights into the interplay between arousal levels and sleep oscillations.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-57289-5

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