Visual perceptual training reconfigures post-task resting-state functional connectivity with a feature-representation...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Science
• Psychology

Background:

• Visual perceptual learning (VPL) research typically focuses on task-related brain activity changes.
• The role of offline, post-task neural processes in VPL remains poorly understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between offline neural processes and VPL.
• To examine how resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FC) changes after visual perceptual training.

Main Methods:

• Acquired resting-state fMRI scans before and after a visual perceptual training task.
• Participants performed a motion coherence discrimination task during task-fMRI.
• Analyzed stimulus-induced activation and rs-FC changes in relation to training.

Main Results:

• Stimulus-induced activation in motion-sensitive MT+ increased with coherence, while it decreased with coherence in decision-related dACC and insula.
• Post-training rs-FC with MT+ increased in cortical areas (sensorimotor, temporal) and decreased in subcortical areas (thalamus, putamen).
• Training-induced rs-FC changes were specific to MT+, not observed in dACC or insula.

Conclusions:

• Perceptual training induces offline plastic changes in functional connectivity within feature-representation brain regions.
• These findings emphasize distinct roles for feature-specific and decision-related brain areas in VPL.
• Offline connectivity changes in visual areas may be crucial for consolidating perceptual learning.