Andrew Huberman· PhD
So as a vision scientist, I think pupils dilating is a sign of arousal, but that could be a positive arousal, positive valence, like excitement, or it could be terror.
Loading…
The headline is broadly defensible, but the qualifications matter. Effect sizes vary by population, the strongest claims rest on shorter trials, and credible voices push back on how it's typically framed.
So as a vision scientist, I think pupils dilating is a sign of arousal, but that could be a positive arousal, positive valence, like excitement, or it could be terror.
Every Sunday: the week’s new conflicts and verdict changes — and nothing else.
Native comments, Twitter mentions, and Reddit threads about this claim — surfaced together so the conversation isn't fragmented across platforms.
Bookmarking — the dossier-vs-overview split is the right call. Most of the time I want overview; sometimes I want receipts.
Would love a "what would change this verdict" RSS feed. Sign me up if it exists.
when we are in a state of increased so-called autonomic arousal, alertness, stress, et cetera, our visual field literally narrows, the aperture of our visual field gets smaller and that's because of the relationship between the autonomic nervous system and your visual system, so you start seeing the world through sort of soda straw view or through binocular-like view, as opposed to seeing the big picture.
However, we know that when we are very stressed or very aroused in any way, positive or negative, the pupils get big, but within the visual system, what that equates to is a narrowing of the visual aperture.