It was nice not seeing you: perceptual learning with rewards in the absence of awareness.
In this issue of Neuron, Seitz et al. show that humans exhibit enhanced perceptual discrimination for visual stimuli that have been repeatedly paired with reward under conditions of suppressed awareness. These findings challenge the view that awareness and focused attention are necessary for perceptual learning.
Jessup
Ryan K
RK
Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.
O'Doherty
John P
JP
D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D012201:Reward; D014473:Unconscious, Psychology; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*