title: Learning motion discrimination with suppressed MT.
abstract: We studied perceptual learning in motion discrimination when the brain's middle temporal area (MT/V5) was functionally suppressed. This was achieved by using the "paired-dots" motion stimulus where the two dots in a pair always move in counter-phase over a short distance [J. Neurosci. 14 (1994) 7357]. The motion directional signal of the stimulus is therefore always 0 on average. As a result, this stimulus activates MT in Rhesus monkeys no more than flicker noise does [J. Neurosci. 14 (1994) 7367]. We added a new manipulation to eliminate the Glass pattern in the original stimulus that would have otherwise provided a static orientation cue. Two such new motion stimuli were presented sequentially, in a 2AFC task. Subjects decided if the global motion-axis of the stimuli changed clockwise or counter-clockwise. When the task difficulty was set at 60% correct, none of the subjects could learn with feedback, even though their performance was well above chance. However, when the task difficulty was set instead at 70% correct, a new group of subjects was able to learn. Hence, learning motion discrimination was possible when MT was presumably eliminated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, UCLA, 1285 Franz Hall, Box 951563, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Hongjing
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.forename: Zili
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D004193:Discrimination Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D009039:Motion Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011214:Practice, Psychological; D011594:Psychometrics; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000502:physiology*