Learning alters the tuning of functional magnetic resonance imaging patterns for visual forms

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Science
• Visual Perception

Background:

• Neural selectivity for visual forms is crucial for object recognition.
• Learning mechanisms shaping human neural selectivity for visual forms are not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the neural mechanisms underlying enhanced behavioral sensitivity to visual forms after training.
• To examine learning-dependent changes in neural preference for global forms using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Main Methods:

• Combined behavioral measurements with high-resolution fMRI.
• Employed multivoxel pattern classification to analyze neural activity.
• Trained observers to discriminate between concentric and radial patterns in noise.

Main Results:

• Training improved human observers' sensitivity to visual forms.
• fMRI pattern classification revealed altered neural tuning in visual areas.
• Learning enhanced the amplitude and reduced the width of pattern-based tuning functions in higher dorsal and ventral visual areas.

Conclusions:

• Learning reshapes neural selectivity for visual forms in the human brain.
• Neural changes involve enhancing responses to preferred stimuli and suppressing responses to non-preferred stimuli in extrastriate visual cortex.