The role of perceptual learning on modality-specific visual attentional effects.
Morrone et al. [Morrone, M. C., Denti, V., & Spinelli, D. (2002). Color and luminance contrasts attract independent attention. Current Biology, 12, 1134-1137] reported that the detrimental effect on contrast discrimination thresholds of performing a concomitant task is modality specific: performing a secondary luminance task has no effect on colour contrast thresholds, and vice versa. Here we confirm this result with a novel task involving learning of spatial position, and go on to show that it is not specific to the cardinal colour axes: secondary tasks with red-green stimuli impede performance on a blue-yellow task and vice versa. We further show that the attentional effect can be abolished with continued training over 2-4 training days (2-20 training sessions), and that the effect of learning is transferable to new target positions. Given the finding of transference, we discuss the possibility that V4 is a site of plasticity for both stimulus types, and that the separation is due to a luminance-colour separation within this cortical area.
Chirimuuta
M
M
Istituto di Neuroscienze CNR, Via Moruzzi 1, Pisa, Italy. mazviita.chirimuuta@arts.monash.edu.au
Burr
David
D
Morrone
M Concetta
MC
D001288:Attention; D003118:Color Perception; D003119:Color Perception Tests / Q000379:methods; D015350:Contrast Sensitivity; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008027:Light; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011601:Psychophysics; D012684:Sensory Thresholds