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Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) of the Visual Cortex with Wide-View Retinotopic Stimulation

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Rewarding feedback after correct visual discriminations has both general and specific influences on visual cortex.

R S Weil¹, N Furl, C C Ruff

¹Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging at UCL, 12 Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK. r.weil@fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk

Journal of Neurophysiology

|July 28, 2010

Summary

Rewarding feedback enhances visual performance and brain activity, particularly in non-retinotopic visual cortex. This study reveals novel reward-related neural changes beyond direct visual processing.

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Science
Visual Perception

Background:

Reward significantly impacts visual performance, but its underlying neural mechanisms are not fully understood.
Previous research has not clearly distinguished between reward feedback and visual processing in the brain.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate how rewarding feedback influences activity in different human visual cortex areas.
To differentiate the effects of rewarding feedback after correct performance from preceding visual events.

Main Methods:

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was employed to measure brain activity.
Participants performed a visual discrimination task with auditory feedback signaling financial reward.
Blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signals were analyzed in relation to rewarding feedback and visual stimuli.

Main Results:

Rewarding feedback increased BOLD signals in the striatum and orbitofrontal cortex.
Activity in visual areas beyond retinotopic cortex, but not primary visual cortex (V1), was elevated by rewarding feedback.
Rewarded trials improved subsequent performance and enhanced visual activity in V1.

Conclusions:

Rewarding feedback induces distinct neural changes in non-retinotopic visual cortex, separate from direct visual stimulus processing.
These findings demonstrate a novel form of reward-induced activity in the visual cortex.
Reward consequences on visual processing differ between general non-retinotopic areas and spatially specific V1 responses.