title: Reduced posterior parietal cortex activation after training on a visual search task.
abstract: Gaining experience on a cognitive task improves behavioral performance and is thought to enhance brain efficiency. Despite the body of literature already published on the effects of training on brain activation, less research has been carried out on visual search attention processes under well controlled conditions. Thirty-six healthy adults divided into trained and control groups completed a pre-post letter-based visual search task fMRI study in one day. Twelve letters were used as targets and ten as distractors. The trained group completed a training session (840 trials) with half the targets between scans. The effects of training were studied at the behavioral and brain levels by controlling for repetition effects using both between-subjects (trained vs. control groups) and within-subject (trained vs. untrained targets) controls. The trained participants reduced their response speed by 31% as a result of training, maintaining their accuracy scores, whereas the control group hardly changed. Neural results revealed that brain changes associated with visual search training were circumscribed to reduced activation in the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) when controlling for group, and they included inferior occipital areas when controlling for targets. The observed behavioral and brain changes are discussed in relation to automatic behavior development. The observed training-related decreases could be associated with increased neural efficiency in specific key regions for task performance.
authors.affiliation: Neuropsychology and Functional Neuroimaging Group, Department of Basic Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, University Jaume I, 12071 Castellón, Spain. Electronic address: bueichek@uji.es.
authors.forename: Elisenda
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bueichekú
authors.affiliation: Neuropsychology and Functional Neuroimaging Group, Department of Basic Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, University Jaume I, 12071 Castellón, Spain. Electronic address: amiro@uji.es.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Miró-Padilla
authors.affiliation: Neuropsychology and Functional Neuroimaging Group, Department of Basic Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, University Jaume I, 12071 Castellón, Spain. Electronic address: mpalomar@uji.es.
authors.forename: María-Ángeles
authors.initials: MÁ
authors.lastname: Palomar-García
authors.affiliation: Neuropsychology and Functional Neuroimaging Group, Department of Basic Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, University Jaume I, 12071 Castellón, Spain. Electronic address: venturan@uji.es.
authors.forename: Noelia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ventura-Campos
authors.affiliation: Neuropsychology and Functional Neuroimaging Group, Department of Basic Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, University Jaume I, 12071 Castellón, Spain. Electronic address: parcet@uji.es.
authors.forename: María-Antonia
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Parcet
authors.affiliation: Neuropsychology and Functional Neuroimaging Group, Department of Basic Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, University Jaume I, 12071 Castellón, Spain. Electronic address: barros@uji.es.
authors.forename: Alfonso
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barrós-Loscertales
authors.affiliation: Neuropsychology and Functional Neuroimaging Group, Department of Basic Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, University Jaume I, 12071 Castellón, Spain. Electronic address: avila@uji.es.
authors.forename: César
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ávila
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001070:Appetitive Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology*; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000502:physiology*; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology*; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Attention; Automaticity; Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Priority maps; Visual selection