---
title: "Constricted-pupil states track neural replay during wakeful rest in humans"
id: "biorxiv-19-constricted-pupil-states-index-neural-replay-during-wakeful-rest-in-humans"
canonical_url: "https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/biorxiv-19-constricted-pupil-states-index-neural-replay-during-wakeful-rest-in-humans"
content_type: "clinical_feed_article"
specialty: "Neurology"
source_name: "bioRxiv (Biomedical Preprints)"
source_url: "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.21.760673v1?rss=1"
published_at: "2026-10-22T12:00:00.000Z"
evidence_level: "Verified Feed"
license: "CC-BY-NC-4.0 / Informational Use"
---
# Constricted-pupil states track neural replay during wakeful rest in humans
## Provenance & Clinical Metadata
- **Canonical URL:** https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/biorxiv-19-constricted-pupil-states-index-neural-replay-during-wakeful-rest-in-humans
- **Specialty:** [Neurology](https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/neurology.md)
- **Primary Source:** bioRxiv (Biomedical Preprints)
- **Source URL:** [Original Journal Publication](https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.21.760673v1?rss=1)
- **Published At:** 2026-10-22T12:00:00.000Z
- **Evidence Rating:** Verified Feed
## Executive GIST (TL;DR)
- The authors combined **magnetoencephalography**-derived sequence replay measures with continuous pupillometry in 25 human participants practicing a motor sequence task across alternating blocks of practice and rest. - Investigators reported that replay events were linked to epochs of smaller pupil diameter; the study team observed that replay timing clustered on the constricting phase of slow pupil fluctuations. - The cohort showed that more frequent replay during rest accompanied larger cumulative offline gains during early stages of motor learning, suggesting a behavioral correlate between replay incidence and consolidation-related improvement. - Authors noted that smaller pupil size during rest predicted better immediate performance when practice resumed; thus, constricted-pupil states correlated with both neural replay and short-term behavioral benefit. - Data indicated that multivariate pupil feature sets could predict replay-associated states across participants and within individuals, while preceding pupil dynamics had only modest ability to identify the exact onset of single replay events. - The manuscript is a preprint and has not undergone peer review; the source did not report detailed statistical metrics, full feature definitions, or predictive-performance values in the abstract, and those methodological specifics are not provided in the abstract text.
## Clinical Analysis & Structured Key Points
Constricted pupil states index neural replay during wakeful rest in humans | bioRxiv Skip to main content New Results Constricted pupil states index neural replay during wakeful rest in humans View ORCID Profile Debadatta Dash , Leonardo Claudino , Hisato Sugata , Fumiaki Iwane , Leonardo Cohen , Ethan R Buch doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.10.21.760673 Debadatta Dash 1 Tarleton State University; Find this author on Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for this author on this site ORCID record for Debadatta Dash For correspondence: ddash{at}tarleton.edu Leonardo Claudino 2 National Institutes of Health; Find this author on Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for this author on this site Hisato Sugata 3 Oita University; Find this author on Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for this author on this site Fumiaki Iwane 4 National institutes of Health Find this author on Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for this author on this site Leonardo Cohen 4 National institutes of Health Find this author on Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for this author on this site Ethan R Buch 2 National Institutes of Health; Find this author on Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for this author on this site Abstract Info/History Metrics Supplementary material Preview PDF Abstract Neural replay has been linked to skill consolidation during wakeful rest, yet its physiological context in humans remains poorly understood. In animals, hippocampal ripples and associated replay occur more frequently within intrinsically oriented brain states associated with constricted pupils, suggesting that pupil dynamics may index neural replay events in humans. We combined magnetoencephalography-derived sequence replay with pupillometry in 25 participants learning a motor sequence across alternating intervals of practice and rest. Replay was indexed by smaller-pupil states, and replay timing clustered on the constricting phase of slow pupil fluctuations. More frequent replay accompanied larger cumulative offline gains during early learning, while smaller rest pupil was associated with better performance when practice resumed. Multivariate pupil features predicted replay-associated states across and within individuals while preceding pupil dynamics showed modest predictive ability to identify the precise onset of individual replay events. Here, we show that constricted-pupil states index neural replay during wakeful rest in humans, linking replay-associated physiology with early motor learning. Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. Copyright The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY 4.0 International license . Back to top Previous Next Posted October 22, 2026. Download PDF Supplementary Material Email Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv. NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article. Your Email * Your Name * Send To * Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas. 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Share Constricted pupil states index neural replay during wakeful rest in humans Debadatta Dash , Leonardo Claudino , Hisato Sugata , Fumiaki Iwane , Leonardo Cohen , Ethan R Buch bioRxiv 2026.10.21.760673; doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.10.21.760673 Share This Article: Copy Citation Tools Constricted pupil states index neural replay during wakeful rest in humans Debadatta Dash , Leonardo Claudino , Hisato Sugata , Fumiaki Iwane , Leonardo Cohen , Ethan R Buch bioRxiv 2026.10.21.760673; doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.10.21.760673 Citation Manager Formats BibTeX Bookends EasyBib EndNote (tagged) EndNote 8 (xml) Medlars Mendeley Papers RefWorks Tagged Ref Manager RIS Zotero Tweet Widget Facebook Like Google Plus One Subject Areas All Articles Animal Behavior and Cognition (8164) Animal Behavior and Cognition (8171) Animal Behavior and Cognition Biochemistry (19027) Biochemistry (19029) Biochemistry Biochemistry Biochemistry Biochemistry (19029) Biochemistry (19029) Biochemistry (19029) Biochemistry Biochemistry (19029) Biochemistry (19029) Biochemistry (19029) Biochemistry (19029) Biochemistry (19029) Biochemistry (19029) Biochemistry Biochemistry (19029) Biochemistry Biochemistry (19041) Biochemistry (19030) Biochemistry (19030) Biochemistry (19030) Biochemistry (19030) Bioengineering (15171) Bioengineering (15172) Bioengineering Bioengineering (15176) Bioengineering (15184) Bioengineering (15172) Bioengineering (15176) Bioinformatics (45288) Bioinformatics (45254) Bioinformatics Bioinformatics (45257) Biophysics (22958) Biophysics (22966) Biophysics Biophysics (22958) Biophysics (22958) Biophysics Biophysics (22958) Biophysics (22958) Biophysics (22961) Cancer Biology (20089) Cancer Biology (20080) Cell Biology (27284) Clinical Trials (138) Clinical Trials (138) Clinical Trials (138) Developmental Biology (14138) Ecology (21383) Epidemiology (2067) Evolutionary Biology (25769) Genetics (16332) Genomics (23811) Immunology (19010) Microbiology (43162) Molecular Biology (18326) Neuroscience (94980) Paleontology (712) Pathology (3029) Pharmacology and Toxicology (5192) Physiology (8270) Plant Biology (16258) Scientific Communication and Education (2115) Synthetic Biology (4641) Systems Biology (10374) Zoology (2423)
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