Learning Strengthens the Response of Primary Visual Cortex to Simple Patterns
Open accessAbstract
Training can significantly improve performance on even the most basic visual tasks, such as detecting a faint patch of light or determining the orientation of a bar (for reviews, see ). The neural mechanisms of visual learning, however, remain controversial. One simple way to improve behavior is to increase the overall neural response to the trained stimulus by increasing the number or gain of responsive neurons. Learning of this type has been observed in other sensory modalities, where training increases the number of receptive fields that cover the trained stimulus. Here, we show that visual learning can selectively increase the overall response to trained stimuli in primary visual cortex (V1). We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure neural signals before and after one month of practice at detecting very low-contrast oriented patterns. Training increased V1 response for practiced orientations relative to control orientations by an average of 39%, and the magnitude of the change in V1 correlated moderately well with the magnitude of changes in detection performance. The elevation of V1 activity by training likely results from an increase in the number of neurons responding to the trained stimulus or an increase in response gain.
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Larger effects have been found in V1 of human subjects using fMRI.
“larger effects have been found in V1 of human subjects using fMRI36”
From Neural correlates of perceptual learning in a sensory-motor, but not a sensory, cortical area (2008) · cites this paper as [36]
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- Authors
- Furmanski, C. S., Schluppeck, D., & Engel, S. A.
- Affiliations
- HRL Laboratories (United States) (US)
- New York University (US)
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- Corresponding author
- Engel, Stephen A
- Venue
- Current Biology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2004-04
- Volume
- 14
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 573-578
- ISSN
- 0960-9822 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2000089180
- Cited by
- 286
- References
- 34
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 16 · 2016: 16 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 22 · 2013: 11 · 2012: 18
- FWCI
- 5.04
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
- www.elsevier.com/legal/tdmrep-license (tdm)
- www.elsevier.com/open-access/userlicense/1.0/ (vor, 3394 d)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-017 (stm-asf)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-037 (stm-asf)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-012 (stm-asf)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-029 (stm-asf)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-004 (stm-asf)
- Locations
- Current Biology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Eye Institute (EY11862)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Visual perception and processing mechanisms
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Face Recognition and Perception
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Motor Control and Adaptation
- Keywords
- visual learning, primary visual cortex, orientation discrimination, perceptual training, visual cortex plasticity
- MeSH terms
- Humans, Learning, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Neurons, Pattern Recognition, Visual, Photic Stimulation, Visual Cortex
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