Individual variability in functional connectivity predicts performance of a perceptual task.
People differ in their ability to perform novel perceptual tasks, both during initial exposure and in the rate of improvement with practice. It is also known that regions of the brain recruited by particular tasks change their activity during learning. Here we investigate neural signals predictive of individual variability in performance. We used resting-state functional MRI to assess functional connectivity before training on a novel visual discrimination task. Subsequent task performance was related to functional connectivity measures within portions of visual cortex and between visual cortex and prefrontal association areas. Our results indicate that individual differences in performing novel perceptual tasks can be related to individual differences in spontaneous cortical activity.
Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies,  Foundation G. d'Annunzio, Chieti 66100,  Italy.
Antonello
A
Baldassarre
Christopher M
CM
Lewis
Giorgia
G
Committeri
Abraham Z
AZ
Snyder
Gian Luca
GL
Romani
Maurizio
M
Corbetta
D000328:Adult; D001303:Auditory Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D001931:Brain Mapping; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005556:Form Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology*; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult