Are You in Control? Dynamics of Cognitive Control and Arousal

As humans, we constantly face a world full of sensory input and competing possibilities for action – but how do we decide what to focus on, and which actions to take? Cognitive control refers to our ability to pursue goal-directed behavior, in the face of distractions and competing impulses. Yet this control is not always stable: it tends to falter when we are too tired or overly alert, in other words, when our arousal is not optimal.

Through a series of experimental studies, this work examines how fluctuations in arousal shape the dynamics of cognitive control across multiple stages of processing, from perception to decision and memory. Using behavioral, neural, and pupillometric measures, the findings offer a layered account of control as a dynamic system – one that adapts to our internal states and the shifting demands of our environment.

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