Top-down reorganization of activity in the visual pathway after learning a shape identification task.
Learning in shape identification led to global changes in activation across the entire visual pathway, as revealed with whole-brain fMRI. Following extensive training in a shape identification task, brain activity associated with trained shapes relative to the untrained shapes showed: (1) an increased level of activity in retinotopic cortex (RC), (2) a decrease in activation of the lateral occipital cortex (LO), and (3) a decrease in the dorsal attentional network. In addition, RC activations became more correlated (and LO activation, less correlated) with performance. When comparing target-present and target-absent trials within the trained condition, we observed a similar decrease in the dorsal attentional network but not in the visual cortices. These findings indicate a large-scale reorganization of activity in the visual pathway as a result of learning, with the RC becoming more involved (and the LO, less involved) and that these changes are triggered in a top-down manner depending on the perceptual task performed.
Sigman
Mariano
M
The Rockefeller University, New York, New York, USA.
Pan
Hong
H
Yang
Yihong
Y
Stern
Emily
E
Silbersweig
David
D
Gilbert
Charles D
CD
D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000502:physiology*