title: Learning to Associate Orientation with Color in Early Visual Areas by Associative Decoded fMRI Neurofeedback.
abstract: Associative learning is an essential brain process where the contingency of different items increases after training. Associative learning has been found to occur in many brain regions [1-4]. However, there is no clear evidence that associative learning of visual features occurs in early visual areas, although a number of studies have indicated that learning of a single visual feature (perceptual learning) involves early visual areas [5-8]. Here, via decoded fMRI neurofeedback termed "DecNef" [9], we tested whether associative learning of orientation and color can be created in early visual areas. During 3 days of training, DecNef induced fMRI signal patterns that corresponded to a specific target color (red) mostly in early visual areas while a vertical achromatic grating was physically presented to participants. As a result, participants came to perceive "red" significantly more frequently than "green" in an achromatic vertical grating. This effect was also observed 3-5 months after the training. These results suggest that long-term associative learning of two different visual features such as orientation and color was created, most likely in early visual areas. This newly extended technique that induces associative learning is called "A-DecNef," and it may be used as an important tool for understanding and modifying brain functions because associations are fundamental and ubiquitous functions in the brain.
authors.affiliation: Precursory Research for Embryonic Science and Technology, Japan Science and Technology Agency, 4-1-8 Honcho, Kawaguchi-shi, Saitama 332-0012, Japan; Center for Information and Neural Networks (CiNet), National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, 1-4 Yamadaoka, Suita City, Osaka 565-0871, Japan; Department of Complexity Science and Engineering, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8561, Japan; Brain Information Communication Research Laboratory Group, Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International, 2-2-2 Hikaridai, Keihanna Science City, Kyoto 619-0288, Japan.
authors.forename: Kaoru
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Amano
authors.affiliation: Brain Information Communication Research Laboratory Group, Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International, 2-2-2 Hikaridai, Keihanna Science City, Kyoto 619-0288, Japan; Department of Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences, Brown University, 190 Thayer Street, Providence, RI 02912, USA.
authors.forename: Kazuhisa
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shibata
authors.affiliation: Brain Information Communication Research Laboratory Group, Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International, 2-2-2 Hikaridai, Keihanna Science City, Kyoto 619-0288, Japan. Electronic address: kawato@atr.jp.
authors.forename: Mitsuo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kawato
authors.affiliation: Brain Information Communication Research Laboratory Group, Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International, 2-2-2 Hikaridai, Keihanna Science City, Kyoto 619-0288, Japan; Department of Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences, Brown University, 190 Thayer Street, Providence, RI 02912, USA.
authors.forename: Yuka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.affiliation: Brain Information Communication Research Laboratory Group, Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International, 2-2-2 Hikaridai, Keihanna Science City, Kyoto 619-0288, Japan; Department of Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences, Brown University, 190 Thayer Street, Providence, RI 02912, USA. Electronic address: takeo_watanabe@brown.edu.
authors.forename: Takeo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Watanabe
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003116:Color; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D058765:Neurofeedback; D009949:Orientation; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D014796:Visual Perception; D055815:Young Adult