Learning in mammalian sensory cortex

Current Opinion in Neurobiology

Volumn 14, Issue 4, 2004, Pages 513-518

  Ghose, Geoffrey M ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

BRAIN CORTEX; ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY; LEARNING; MAMMAL; NEUROIMAGING; NONHUMAN; PERCEPTION; PRIORITY JOURNAL; REVIEW; SENSORY CORTEX; SENSORY SYSTEM; SIGNAL TRANSDUCTION; TASK PERFORMANCE; TRAINING;

ACTION POTENTIALS; AFFERENT PATHWAYS; ANIMALS; CEREBRAL CORTEX; HUMANS; LEARNING; NEURAL INHIBITION; NEURONAL PLASTICITY; PERCEPTION; SENSATION;

EID: 4043095480     PISSN: 09594388     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2004.07.003     Document Type: Review

References (62)

1. R. Goldstone Perceptual learning Annu Rev Psychol 49 1998 585 612
2. M. Ahissar Perceptual training: a tool for both modifying the brain and exploring it Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 98 2001 11842 11843
3. I. Fine, and R. Jacobs Comparing perceptual learning tasks: a review J Vis 2 2002 190 203
4. V. Ramachandran, and O. Braddick Orientation-specific learning in stereopsis Perception 2 1973 371 376
5. V. Ramachandran Learning-like phenomena in stereopsis Nature 262 1976 382 384
6. A. Karni, and D. Sagi Where practice makes perfect in texture discrimination: evidence for primary visual cortex plasticity Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 88 1991 4966 4970
7. W. Jenkins, M. Merzenich, and G. Recanzone Neocortical representational dynamics in adult primates: implications for neuropsychology Neuropsychologia. 28 1990 573 584
8. W. Jenkins, M. Merzenich, M. Ochs, T. Allard, and E. Guic-Robles Functional reorganization of primary somatosensory cortex in adult owl monkeys after behaviorally controlled tactile stimulation J Neurophysiol 63 1990 82 104
9. G. Recanzone, M. Merzenich, W. Jenkins, K. Grajski, and H. Dinse Topographic reorganization of the hand representation in cortical area 3b owl monkeys trained in a frequency-discrimination task J Neurophysiol 67 1992 1031 1056
10. G. Recanzone, C. Schreiner, and M. Merzenich Plasticity in the frequency representation of primary auditory cortex following discrimination training in adult owl monkeys J Neurosci 13 1993 87 103
11. C. Xerri, M. Merzenich, W. Jenkins, and S. Santucci Representational plasticity in cortical area 3b paralleling tactual-motor skill acquisition in adult monkeys Cereb Cortex 9 1999 264 276
12. R. Crist, W. Li, and C. Gilbert Learning to see: experience and attention in primary visual cortex Nat Neurosci 4 2001 519 525
13. A. Schoups, R. Vogels, N. Qian, and G. Orban Practising orientation identification improves orientation coding in V1 neurons Nature 412 2001 549 553
14. G. Ghose, T. Yang, and J. Maunsell Physiological correlates of perceptual learning in monkey v1 and v2 J Neurophysiol 87 2002 1867 1888
15. M. Mayer Practice improves adults' sensitivity to diagonals Vision Res 23 1983 547 550
16. R. Vogels, and G. Orban The effect of practice on the oblique effect in line orientation judgments Vision Res 25 1985 1679 1687
17. B. Vogels, and G. Orban Does practice in orientation discrimination lead to changes in the response properties of macaque inferior temporal neurons? Eur J Neurosci 6 1994 1680 1690
18. A. Schoups, R. Vogels, and G. Orban Human perceptual learning in identifying the oblique orientation: retinotopy, orientation specificity and monocularity J Physiol 483 1995 797 810
19. N. Matthews, Z. Liu, B. Geesaman, and N. Qian Perceptual learning on orientation and direction discrimination Vision Res 39 1999 3692 3701
20. S. Schwartz, P. Maquet, and C. Frith Neural correlates of perceptual learning: a functional MRI study of visual texture discrimination Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 99 2002 17137 17142
21. A. Schoups, and G. Orban Interocular transfer in perceptual learning of a pop-out discrimination task Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 93 1996 7358 7362
22. M. Ahissar, and S. Hochstein Task difficulty and the specificity of perceptual learning Nature 387 1997 401 406
23. E. Kobatake, G. Wang, and K. Tanaka Effects of shape-discrimination training on the selectivity of inferotemporal cells in adult monkeys J Neurophysiol 80 1998 324 330
24. N. Logothetis, J. Pauls, H. Bulthoff, and T. Poggio View-dependent object recognition by monkeys Curr Biol 4 1994 401 414
25. J. DiCarlo, and J. Maunsell Anterior inferotemporal neurons of monkeys engaged in object recognition can be highly sensitive to object retinal position J Neurophysiol 89 2003 3264 3278. In this study visual responses were measured while animals performed a visual search for targets they had been trained to identify. Neurons in inferotemporal cortex frequently exhibited target selective responses, consistent with a role in object recognition. Surprisingly, responses were often dependent on precise stimulus location, suggesting receptive fields on the order of 1 deg in size. This result contrasts with previous studies showing very large receptive fields among inferotemporal neurons. The range of receptive fields that can be observed in inferotemporal cortex suggests that a sensory property previously assumed to be immutable, receptive field size, can potentially be altered as a consequence of training.
26. M. Ahissar, and S. Hochstein Attentional control of early perceptual learning Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 90 1993 5718 5722
27. B. Godde, B. Stauffenberg, F. Spengler, and H. Dinse Tactile coactivation-induced changes in spatial discrimination performance J Neurosci 20 2000 1597 1604
28. T. Watanabe, J. Nanez, and Y. Sasaki Perceptual learning without perception Nature 413 2001 844 848
29. T. Watanabe, J. Nanez Sr., S. Koyama, I. Mukai, J. Liederman, and Y. Sasaki Greater plasticity in lower-level than higher-level visual motion processing in a passive perceptual learning task Nat Neurosci 5 2002 1003 1009
30. A. Seitz, and T. Watanabe Psychophysics: Is subliminal learning really passive? Nature 422 2003 36. In this study subjects performed a difficult letter identification task while a moving dot field surrounded the letters. A consistent direction of motion was presented for each target letter. Subsequent measurement revealed an increase in motion sensitivity that was selective for the direction presented during the target's appearance. The results indicate that learning was confined only to those stimuli that potentially impaired performance.
31. A. Hodzic, R. Veit, A. Karim, M. Erb, and B. Godde Improvement and decline in tactile discrimination behavior after cortical plasticity induced by passive tactile coactivation J Neurosci 24 2004 442 446. The authors use a passive tactile stimulation paradigm that improves spatial tactile acuity. They evaluate somatosensory mapping of the stimulated regions using fMRI before and after stimulation and find increases in activation accompanied by decreases in the distance between activated regions. The amount of this reorganization was well correlated with performance across subjects.
32. G. Rainer, H. Lee, and N. Logothetis The effect of learning on the function of monkey extrastriate visual cortex PLoS Biol 2 2004 275 283. In this study monkeys were trained to recognize a specific set of natural images degraded by noise. After training, their performance on trained images degraded by intermediate amounts of noise was better than similarly degraded untrained images. Visual responses in V4 neurons showed a similar pattern: they were larger for degraded trained images than degraded untrained images. Interestingly, no training-related response changes were observed for undegraded images. The study provides the first demonstration of direct physiological correlates of noise-specific improvements in perceptual performance.
33. C. Braun, R. Schweizer, U. Heinz, K. Wiech, N. Birbaumer, and H. Topka Task-specific plasticity of somatosensory cortex in patients with writer's cramp Neuroimage 20 2003 1329 1338
34. C. Xerri, M. Merzenich, B. Peterson, and W. Jenkins Plasticity of primary somatosensory cortex paralleling sensorimotor skill recovery from stroke in adult monkeys J Neurophysiol 79 1998 2119 2148
35. S. Talwar, and G. Gerstein Reorganization in awake rat auditory cortex by local microstimulation and its effect on frequency-discrimination behavior J Neurophysiol 86 2001 1555 1572
36. H. Dinse, P. Ragert, B. Pleger, P. Schwenkreis, and M. Tegenthoff Pharmacological modulation of perceptual learning and associated cortical reorganization Science 301 2003 91 94. The authors make use of a passive tactile coactivation paradigm that improves tactile acuity on a fingertip. The authors are able to reduce experience-related acuity increases by administering a drug that blocks NMDA receptors, and amplify acuity increases with amphetamines. The drugs had no effects on the tactile acuity of an untrained finger. The study therefore links perceptual learning with a receptor system that is heavily implicated in activity dependent synaptic plasticity in both the hippocampus and the cortex.
37. D. Blake, F. Strata, A. Churchland, and M. Merzenich Neural correlates of instrumental learning in primary auditory cortex Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 99 2002 10114 10119. The authors use chronically implanted microelectrodes to study populations of neurons within the auditory cortex of owl monkeys for extended periods of time. This allows the authors to monitor functional changes while the animal is being trained in a difficult frequency discrimination task. The authors observe maximal firing rate changes in training sessions when the behavioral changes were also the largest, providing an impressive temporal correlation between physiological and behavioral changes.
38. J. Gold, P. Bennett, and A. Sekuler Signal but not noise changes with perceptual learning Nature 402 1999 176 178
39. Z. Lu, and B. Dosher External noise distinguishes attention mechanisms Vision Res 38 1998 1183 1198
40. B. Dosher, and Z. Lu Perceptual learning reflects external noise filtering and internal noise reduction through channel reweighting Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 95 1998 13988 13993
41. B. Dosher, and Z. Lu Mechanisms of perceptual learning Vision Res 39 1999 3197 3221
42. J. Saarinen, and D. Levi Perceptual learning in vernier acuity: what is learned? Vision Res 35 1995 519 527
43. Z. Lu, and B. Dosher Perceptual learning retunes the perceptual template in foveal orientation identification J Vis 4 2004 44 56
44. R. Li, D. Levi, and S. Klein Perceptual learning improves efficiency by re-tuning the decision 'template' for position discrimination Nat Neurosci 7 2004 178 183. The authors observe improvements in visual position discrimination with training for a variety of positional noise levels. The results suggest that improvements occur through an improvement in efficiency rather than a suppression of external noise. Thus, the perceptual template used to arrive at a decision was refined. A trial-by-trial analysis used to infer this perceptual template further corroborates the suggestion that training involves an improvement in the sampling of relevant information.
45. G. Westheimer, K. Shimamura, and S. McKee Interference with line-orientation sensitivity J Opt Soc Am 66 1976 332 338
46. M. Shadlen, K. Britten, W. Newsome, and J. Movshon A computational analysis of the relationship between neuronal and behavioral responses to visual motion J Neurosci 16 1996 1486 1510
47. T. Yang, and J. Maunsell The effect of perceptual learning on neuronal responses in monkey visual area V4 J Neurosci 24 2004 1617 1626. The authors measured orientation tuning in V4 neurons in monkeys that had been trained in an orientations discrimination task. They show that the orientation selectivity of V4 neurons, unlike those in V1, increases as a consequence of training. This is the first demonstration of a training-related change in the primary receptive field properties of an area at an intermediate level of visual processing.
48. R. Beitel, C. Schreiner, S. Cheung, X. Wang, and M. Merzenich Reward-dependent plasticity in the primary auditory cortex of adult monkeys trained to discriminate temporally modulated signals Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 100 2003 11070 11075. The authors trained owl monkeys to detect an envelope frequency change. They observed a decrease in responses to the trained tone, but an increase in the frequency selectivity of these responses. The study emphasizes the importance of considering the discriminative ability of responses, and not just their magnitude, when considering models of perceptual learning.
49. Z. Shu, N. Swindale, and M. Cynader Spectral motion produces an auditory after-effect Nature 364 1993 721 723
50. J. Victor, M. Conte, and K. Purpura Dynamic shifts of the contrast-response function Vis Neurosci 14 1997 577 587
51. H. Hock, G. Schoner, and S. Hochstein Perceptual stability and the selective adaptation of perceived and unperceived motion directions Vision Res 36 1996 3311 3323
52. J. Muller, A. Metha, J. Krauskopf, and P. Lennie Rapid adaptation in visual cortex to the structure of images Science 285 1999 1405 1408
53. V. Dragoi, J. Sharma, and M. Sur Adaptation-induced plasticity of orientation tuning in adult visual cortex Neuron 28 2000 287 298
54. D. Kleinfeld, R. Sachdev, L. Merchant, M. Jarvis, and F. Ebner Adaptive filtering of vibrissa input in motor cortex of rat Neuron 34 2002 1021 1034
55. N. Ulanovsky, L. Las, and I. Nelken Processing of low-probability sounds by cortical neurons Nat Neurosci 6 2003 391 398
56. D. Regan, and K. Beverley Postadaptation orientation discrimination J Opt Soc Am A 2 1985 147 155
57. M. Wainwright Visual adaptation as optimal information transmission Vision Res 39 1999 3960 3974
58. C.W. Clifford, A.M. Wyatt, D.H. Arnold, S.T. Smith, and P. Wenderoth Orthogonal adaptation improves orientation discrimination Vision Res 41 2001 151 159
59. S. Luck, L. Chelazzi, S. Hillyard, and R. Desimone Neural mechanisms of spatial selective attention in areas V1, V2, and V4 of macaque visual cortex J Neurophysiol 77 1997 24 42
60. K. Britten, W. Newsome, M. Shadlen, S. Celebrini, and J. Movshon A relationship between behavioral choice and the visual responses of neurons in macaque MT Vis Neurosci 13 1996 87 100
61. R. Romo, A. Hernandez, A. Zainos, C. Brody, and L. Lemus Sensing without touching: psychophysical performance based on cortical microstimulation Neuron 26 2000 273 278
62. G. DeAngelis, and W. Newsome Perceptual "read-out" of conjoined direction and disparity maps in extrastriate area MT PLoS Biol 2 2004 394 404