Pupillometry and electroencephalography in the digit span task

Abstract

This dataset consists of raw 64-channel EEG, cardiovascular (electrocardiography and photoplethysmography), and pupillometry data from 86 human participants recorded during 4 minutes of eyes-closed resting and during performance of a classic working memory task – digit span task with serial recall. The participants either memorized or just listened to sequences of 5, 9, or 13 digits presented auditorily every 2 seconds. The dataset can be used for (1) developing algorithms for cognitive load discrimination and detection of cognitive overload; (2) studying neural (event-related potentials and brain oscillations) and peripheral (electrocardiography, photoplethysmography, and pupillometry) physiological signals during encoding and maintenance of each sequentially presented memory item; (3) correlating cognitive load and individual differences in working memory to neural and peripheral physiology, and studying the relationship between the physiological signals; (4) integration of the physiological findings with the vast knowledge coming from behavioral studies of verbal working memory in simple span paradigms. The data are shared in Brain Imaging Data Structure (BIDS) format and freely available on OpenNeuro (https://openneuro.org/datasets/ds003838).

EEG and pupillometric signatures of working memory overload

“…The methods overlap considerably with our previously published data descriptor (Pavlov et al, 2022). Nevertheless, essential details are not omitted and fully described.…”

“…Unlike pupil size, theta never reached the baseline level. With a typical number of items in verbal WM studies of 5, the first phase of the temporal trajectory – the linear modulation of theta power by an increasing number of items for retention – has been reported repeatedly (Pavlov & Kotchoubey, 2022). Paralleling the observed plateau effect, our previous verbal WM study failed to observe a difference in expression of theta activity between 5, 6, and 7 letters load (Pavlov & Kotchoubey, 2021).…”

“…A systematic review of the literature identified that alpha during retention interval does not always change in the same direction, with 80% of studies reporting an alpha increase and the rest showing the opposite pattern in similar conditions (Pavlov & Kotchoubey, 2022). The alpha increase during retention has been associated with the suppression of task-irrelevant cortical areas (Jensen & Mazaheri, 2010) that serves the functions of distractor inhibition and disengagement of external attention during retention period (Clayton et al, 2018; Payne & Sekuler, 2014; Roux & Uhlhaas, 2014; Schroeder et al, 2018).…”

“…Executive components of WM are frequently associated with frontal midline theta activity (Berger et al, 2014; Griesmayr et al, 2010; Pavlov & Kotchoubey, 2017; Sauseng et al, 2010). An increase in WM load is frequently accompanied by a linear increase in the power of theta activity (Pavlov & Kotchoubey, 2022), presumably, due to an increasing demand on executive control networks in the brain. It remains unclear whether demands on the executive control that exceed WM capacity prompt a breakdown of the network, or alternatively, prompt activity that remains constant at the level of individual memory capacity.…”

“…Moreover, WM retention has an effect on alpha power, although the direction of this effect is inconsistent across studies (Pavlov & Kotchoubey, 2022). Several studies have found suppression of alpha power during the retention interval (Erickson et al, 2019; Foster et al, 2016; Fukuda et al, 2015).…”