The purpose of the master's thesis was to determine whether the intensity of balance tasks can be determined with pupillometry. The master's thesis had the following objectives to investigate: (i) whether the pupil size diameter increases during balance task when reducing the support surface, (ii) whether the pupil size diameter increases during balance tasks when changing the sensory inflow and (iii) whether it is possible to determine the relative intensity of the balance tasks with fluctuations of the pupil size diameter.
Forty healthy young adult subjects (27 females and 13 males) were included in the study. Subjects performed nine different balance tasks. Size of the support surface, inclination and stiffness were randomly changing during the study. Bilateral and unilateral stance on a dominant and non-dominant foot on three different support surfaces (flat, solid surface, inclined surface and soft surface) were conducted. During the performance of balance tasks, the parameters of pupil diameter and parameters of the centre of pressure movement (sway velocity, average amplitude and frequency) were analysed.
The results showed that by changing the support surface, the diameter of the pupil increases. An increase in pupil diameter could be associated with an increase in the cognitive load represented by the performance of a particular task and thus with the involvement of higher structures of the central nervous system. Based on the obtained results, it could be concluded that pupillometry (changes in pupil diameter) could represent a measure of the relative intensity during balance tasks.
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