INSIDEOUT

Global nonequilibrium cortical dynamics tie mid-level pupil-linked arousal to optimal task performance in humans

Ongoing fluctuations in brain state, largely driven by neuromodulators of arousal, shape how sensory inputs are processed and decisions are made. Here, we combined pharmacological manipulations and pupillary proxies of arousal to examine how global cortical state dynamics relate to perceptual sensitivity. We applied the thermodynamics-inspired INSIDEOUT framework to electroencephalography (EEG) recordings from two visual discrimination tasks performed under placebo, atomoxetine...