Zurich researchers get first peek at sleeping eye behaviour
Zurich researchers observe pupils of sleeping people for the first time
Keystone-SDA
Select your language
Generated with artificial intelligence.
Listening: Zurich researchers get first peek at sleeping eye behaviour
For the first time, researchers have observed the pupils of sleeping people over several hours. They discovered that the size of the pupil constantly fluctuates, even during sleep.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA
Deutsch
de
Zürcher Forscher beobachten erstmals Pupillen schlafender Menschen
Original
“These observations contradict the previous assumption that arousal levels are generally low during sleep,” said study leader Caroline Lustenberger from ETH Zurich in a press release issued by the university on Wednesday. This is because the dynamics of the pupils reflect the state of arousal of the brain.
According to ETH Zurich, the pupil fluctuations during sleep show that the brain is also in a constant state of alternation between higher and lower levels of activation during sleep. The results were published in the journal Nature Communications.
Sleeping with one eye open
Scientists at ETH Zurich have developed a new method for looking under the eyelids of sleeping people. They stuck a special transparent plaster over an open eye.
The researchers’ biggest concern was that the test subjects would not be able to sleep with their eyes open. “But in a dark room, most of them forget that their eyes are still open and can still sleep,” explained the first author of the study, Manuel Carro Domínguez, in the university’s press release.
According to the researchers, understanding pupil dynamics during sleep could provide important information for the diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders and other diseases.
The technology for monitoring pupils during sleep will also be used outside the sleep laboratory in the future. According to ETH Zurich, it could help hospitals, for example, to monitor the awakening of coma patients or to diagnose sleep disorders more accurately.
Translated from German by DeepL/mga
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
Popular Stories
More
Climate adaptation
Why Switzerland is among the ten fastest-warming countries in the world
Train vs plane: would you take a direct train between London and Geneva?
Eurostar is planning to run direct trains from Britain to Germany and Switzerland from the early 2030s. Would you favour the train over the plane? If not, why not?
Rhine could warm by up to 4°C by 2100, scientists warn
This content was published on
The water temperature of the Rhine River could rise by up to 4.2° degrees Celsius by the end of the century due to the warming planet, scientists warn.
This content was published on
The Federal Council wants to explore the possibilities of joining the European Union’s €800-billion rearmament programme without compromising Swiss neutrality.
Defence Minister Pfister stresses importance of Swiss mission in Balkans
This content was published on
During a visit to the Balkans region last week, Swiss Defence Minister Martin Pfister met Swisscoy peacekeeping troops in Kosovo.
Premiere for Swiss Air Force on French National Day
This content was published on
On July 14, the Swiss Air Force will take part in the traditional air parade in Paris to mark the French bank holidays with an F/A-18 fighter jet. This is a first for Switzerland.
Swiss launch competition for memorial to Nazi victims
This content was published on
The victims of Nazi Germany are to be commemorated on the Casinoterrasse in Bern. A competition will be held to determine what the site will look like.
This content was published on
The cantonal police of Graubünden in eastern Switzerland have arrested and convicted five cocaine dealers in Chur within a week.
This content was published on
The Swiss business umbrella organisation Economiesuisse and the employers' association broadly support the package of agreements negotiated with the European Union.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.