The effect of feedback on performance and brain activation during perceptual learning

We investigated the role of informative feedback on the neural correlates of perceptual learning in a coherent-motion detection paradigm. Stimulus displays consisted of four patches of moving dots briefly (500 ms) presented simultaneously, one patch in each visual quadrant. The coherence level was varied in the target patch from near threshold to high, while the other three patches contained only noise. The participants judged whether coherent motion was present or absent in the target patch. To guarantee central fixation, a secondary RSVP digit-detection task was performed at fixation. Over six training sessions subjects learned to detect coherent motion in a predefined quadrant (i.e., the learned location). Half of our subjects were randomly assigned to the feedback group, where they received informative feedback after each response during training, whereas the other group received non-informative feedback during training that a response button was pressed. We investigated whether the presence of informative feedback during training had an influence on the learning success and on the resulting BOLD response. Behavioral data of 24 subjects showed improved performance with increasing practice. Informative feedback promoted learning for motion displays with high coherence levels, whereas it had little effect on learning for displays with near-threshold coherence levels. Learning enhanced fMRI responses in early visual cortex and motion-sensitive area MT+ and these changes were most pronounced for high coherence levels. Activation in the insular and cingulate cortex was mainly influenced by coherence level and trained location. We conclude that feedback modulates behavioral performance and, to a lesser extent, brain activation in areas responsible for monitoring perceptual learning.