{
  "abstract": "Successful knowledge expression varies with one's arousal-attentional (A-A) state at the moment just prior to attempting to remember. Yet, whether such states causally affect retrieval remains unclear. Here we introduce PRISM (Pupil-based Real-time Intervention System for Memory), a closed-loop paradigm that continuously monitors pupil size to track A-A states in real time and, during suboptimal states (SOS), delivers a visual reorienting cue in the moment before a retrieval attempt. In 67 participants performing a goal-directed source memory and item recognition task, we show that pupil-defined SOS just prior to retrieval impair both item recognition and source recollection relative to optimal state (OS) trials. Critically, delivering a brief visual reorienting trigger cue on SOS trials in real time rescues item memory, but not source memory, raising item memory to a level not credibly different from real-time OS trials and providing causal evidence that phasic attentional reorienting during A-A-defined suboptimal states facilitates memory access at retrieval. Offline spline-detrending analysis confirms that the A-A state-memory relationship is robust to slow physiological drift. It also shows that the trigger benefit was credible for marginally suboptimal (drift-driven) SOS trials and smaller and less certain for deeply suboptimal (drift-resistant) SOS trials, consistent with a zone-of-recoverability account, although the difference between the two SOS subtypes was not credible. Furthermore, among deeply suboptimal trials the A-A-boosting trigger cue improved memory for low-A-A SOS (i.e., pupillary constriction) but not high-A-A SOS (i.e., pupillary dilation) trials, consistent with the classic inverted-U relationship between arousal and performance, although the difference between the two directions was not credible. Together, these findings causally link phasic arousal-attentional reorienting at retrieval to memory rescue and suggest that the depth and direction of suboptimality shape whether such rescue succeeds, connecting the readiness-to-remember framework to the classic arousal-performance inverted-U relationship. Moreover, these findings provide a further foundation for adaptive closed-loop technologies that would tailor intervention to the depth and direction of momentary arousal-attentional states, facilitating memory expression in real time.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Stanford University"
  ],
  "article_type": "New results",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 8,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "S. T. Schwartz"
    },
    {
      "name": "H. Yang"
    },
    {
      "name": "M. He"
    },
    {
      "name": "K. K. Nguyen"
    },
    {
      "name": "M. T. deBettencourt"
    },
    {
      "name": "T. T. Tran"
    },
    {
      "name": "K. P. Madore"
    },
    {
      "name": "A. D. Wagner"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8x6d0ev441p95.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.64898/2026.10.28.762693",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.28.762693v1.full",
  "id": "8x6d0ev441p95",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.28.762693v1",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "biorxiv",
      "neuroscience"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": null,
  "pdf_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.28.762693v1.full.pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-28",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8x6d0ev441p95.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-04T00:21:35Z",
      "native_id": "10.64898/2026.10.28.762693",
      "source": "biorxiv",
      "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.28.762693v1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "biorxiv:neuroscience",
      "subfield": "neuroscience"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Real-time reorienting during episodic retrieval rescues memories from suboptimal arousal-attentional states",
  "title_text": "Real-time reorienting during episodic retrieval rescues memories from suboptimal arousal-attentional states",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-05T00:21:01Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8x6d0ev441p95",
  "venue": "bioRxiv",
  "versions": []
}