title: Shared mechanisms of perceptual learning and decision making.
abstract: Perceptual decisions require the brain to weigh noisy evidence from sensory neurons to form categorical judgments that guide behavior. Here we review behavioral and neurophysiological findings suggesting that at least some forms of perceptual learning do not appear to affect the response properties of neurons that represent the sensory evidence. Instead, improved perceptual performance results from changes in how the sensory evidence is selected and weighed to form the decision. We discuss the implications of this idea for possible sites and mechanisms of training-induced improvements in perceptual processing in the brain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Chi-Tat
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Law
authors.forename: Joshua I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Gold
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D001519:Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology; D003657:Decision Making / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity; D009482:Neurophysiology; D010465:Perception / Q000502:physiology
keywords: Attention; Decision making; Parietal cortex; Plasticity; Primate; Sensory coding