ERP and pupil responses to deviance in an oddball paradigm

We investigated the relationship between, and functional significance of, P300, novelty P3, and the pupil dilation response (PDR). Subjects categorized stimuli including (a) words of a frequent category, (b) words of an infrequent category (14%), and (c) pictures of the frequent category (“novels”; 14%). The P300 and novelty P3 were uncorrelated with the PDR and differed in their response to experimental manipulation. Therefore, although the three physiological responses often co‐occur, they appear to each manifest a distinct function: The PDR may be more closely linked to aspects of behavioral responding than the event‐related potentials. Within participants, P300 and PDR latencies accounted for unique portions of the reaction time variance, and amplitudes of all three responses were larger for stimuli recalled on a subsequent test, compared to not recalled. We discuss the possibility that all three responses reflect norepinephric input from the locus coeruleus.