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Shen S, Sun Y, Lu J, Li C, Chen Q, Mo C, Fang F, Zhang X. Profiles of visual perceptual learning in feature space. iScience 2024; 27:109128. [PMID: 38384835 PMCID: PMC10879700 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.109128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2023] [Revised: 01/22/2024] [Accepted: 02/01/2024] [Indexed: 02/23/2024] Open
Abstract
Visual perceptual learning (VPL), experience-induced gains in discriminating visual features, has been studied extensively and intensively for many years, its profile in feature space, however, remains unclear. Here, human subjects were trained to perform either a simple low-level feature (grating orientation) or a complex high-level object (face view) discrimination task over a long-time course. During, immediately after, and one month after training, all results showed that in feature space VPL in grating orientation discrimination was a center-surround profile; VPL in face view discrimination, however, was a monotonic gradient profile. Importantly, these two profiles can be emerged by a deep convolutional neural network with a modified AlexNet consisted of 7 and 12 layers, respectively. Altogether, our study reveals for the first time a feature hierarchy-dependent profile of VPL in feature space, placing a necessary constraint on our understanding of the neural computation of VPL.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shiqi Shen
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510631, China
- School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, and Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510631, China
| | - Yueling Sun
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510631, China
- School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, and Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510631, China
| | - Jiachen Lu
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510631, China
- School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, and Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510631, China
| | - Chu Li
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510631, China
- School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, and Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510631, China
| | - Qinglin Chen
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510631, China
- School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, and Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510631, China
| | - Ce Mo
- Department of Psychology, Sun-YatSen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510275, China
| | - Fang Fang
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
- IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
- Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Xilin Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510631, China
- School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, and Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510631, China
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Hung SC, Barbot A, Carrasco M. Visual perceptual learning modulates microsaccade rate and directionality. Sci Rep 2023; 13:16525. [PMID: 37783775 PMCID: PMC10545683 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-42768-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2023] [Accepted: 09/14/2023] [Indexed: 10/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Microsaccades, incessant "fixational eye movements" (< 1°), are an important window into cognitive functions. Yet, its role in visual perceptual learning (VPL)-improvements in visual discrimination due to practice-remains practically unexplored. Here we investigated whether and how microsaccades change in VPL. Human observers performed a Landolt acuity task for 5 consecutive days and were assigned to the Neutral or Attention group. On each trial, two peripheral Landolt squares were presented briefly along a diagonal. Observers reported the gap side of the target stimulus. Training improved acuity and modified the microsaccade rate; with training, the rate decreased during the fixation period but increased during the response cue. Furthermore, microsaccade direction during the response cue was biased toward the target location, and training enhanced and sped up this bias. Finally, the microsaccade rate during a task-free fixation period correlated with observers' initial acuity threshold, indicating that the fewer the microsaccades during fixation the better the individual visual acuity. All these results, which were similar for both the Neutral and Attention groups and at both trained and untrained locations, suggest that microsaccades could serve as a physiological marker reflecting functional dynamics in human perceptual learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shao-Chin Hung
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, USA.
| | - Antoine Barbot
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, USA
| | - Marisa Carrasco
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, USA
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, USA
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Du Y, Zhang G, Li W, Zhang E. Many Roads Lead to Rome: Differential Learning Processes for the Same Perceptual Improvement. Psychol Sci 2023; 34:313-325. [PMID: 36473146 DOI: 10.1177/09567976221134481] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Repeatedly exercising a perceptual ability usually leads to improvement, yet it is unclear whether the mechanisms supporting the same perceptual learning could be flexibly adjusted according to the training settings. Here, we trained adult observers in an orientation-discrimination task at either a single (focused) retinal location or multiple (distributed) retinal locations. We examined the observers' discriminability (N = 52) and bias (N = 20) in orientation perception at the trained and untrained locations. The focused and distributed training enhanced orientation discriminability by the same amount and induced a bias in perceived orientation at the trained locations. Nevertheless, the distributed training promoted location generalization of both practice effects, whereas the focused training resulted in specificity. The two training tactics also differed in long-term retention of the training effects. Our results suggest that, depending on the training settings of the same task, the same discrimination learning could differentially engage location-specific and location-invariant representations of the learned stimulus feature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yangyang Du
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University
| | - Gongliang Zhang
- Department of Psychology, School of Education, Soochow University
| | - Wu Li
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University
| | - En Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University
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Abstract
Human perceptual learning, experience-induced gains in sensory discrimination, typically yields long-term performance improvements. Recent research revealed long-lasting transfer at the untrained location enabled by feature-based attention (FBA), reminiscent of its global effect (Hung & Carrasco, Scientific Reports, 11(1), 13914, (2021)). Visual Perceptual Learning (VPL) is typically studied while observers maintain fixation, but the role of fixational eye movements is unknown. Microsaccades - the largest of fixational eye movements - provide a continuous, online, physiological measure from the oculomotor system that reveals dynamic processing, which is unavailable from behavioral measures alone. We investigated whether and how microsaccades change after training in an orientation discrimination task. For human observers trained with or without FBA, microsaccade rates were significantly reduced during the response window in both trained and untrained locations and orientations. Critically, consistent with long-term training benefits, this microsaccade-rate reduction persisted over a year. Furthermore, microsaccades were biased toward the target location prior to stimulus onset and were more suppressed for incorrect than correct trials after observers' responses. These findings reveal that fixational eye movements and VPL are tightly coupled and that learning-induced microsaccade changes are long lasting. Thus, microsaccades reflect functional dynamics of the oculomotor system during information encoding, maintenance and readout, and may serve as a reliable long-term physiological correlate in VPL.
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Wang H, Chen R, Yan Y, McGettigan C, Rosen S, Adank P. Perceptual Learning of Noise-Vocoded Speech Under Divided Attention. Trends Hear 2023; 27:23312165231192297. [PMID: 37547940 PMCID: PMC10408355 DOI: 10.1177/23312165231192297] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2023] [Revised: 07/13/2023] [Accepted: 07/19/2023] [Indexed: 08/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Speech perception performance for degraded speech can improve with practice or exposure. Such perceptual learning is thought to be reliant on attention and theoretical accounts like the predictive coding framework suggest a key role for attention in supporting learning. However, it is unclear whether speech perceptual learning requires undivided attention. We evaluated the role of divided attention in speech perceptual learning in two online experiments (N = 336). Experiment 1 tested the reliance of perceptual learning on undivided attention. Participants completed a speech recognition task where they repeated forty noise-vocoded sentences in a between-group design. Participants performed the speech task alone or concurrently with a domain-general visual task (dual task) at one of three difficulty levels. We observed perceptual learning under divided attention for all four groups, moderated by dual-task difficulty. Listeners in easy and intermediate visual conditions improved as much as the single-task group. Those who completed the most challenging visual task showed faster learning and achieved similar ending performance compared to the single-task group. Experiment 2 tested whether learning relies on domain-specific or domain-general processes. Participants completed a single speech task or performed this task together with a dual task aiming to recruit domain-specific (lexical or phonological), or domain-general (visual) processes. All secondary task conditions produced patterns and amount of learning comparable to the single speech task. Our results demonstrate that the impact of divided attention on perceptual learning is not strictly dependent on domain-general or domain-specific processes and speech perceptual learning persists under divided attention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Han Wang
- Department of Speech, Hearing and Phonetic Sciences, University College London, London, UK
| | - Rongru Chen
- Department of Speech, Hearing and Phonetic Sciences, University College London, London, UK
| | - Yu Yan
- Department of Speech, Hearing and Phonetic Sciences, University College London, London, UK
| | - Carolyn McGettigan
- Department of Speech, Hearing and Phonetic Sciences, University College London, London, UK
| | - Stuart Rosen
- Department of Speech, Hearing and Phonetic Sciences, University College London, London, UK
| | - Patti Adank
- Department of Speech, Hearing and Phonetic Sciences, University College London, London, UK
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Pavan A, Koc Yilmaz S, Kafaligonul H, Battaglini L, Blurton SP. Motion processing impaired by transient spatial attention: Potential implications for the magnocellular pathway. Vision Res 2022; 199:108080. [PMID: 35749832 DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2022.108080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2021] [Revised: 06/04/2022] [Accepted: 06/08/2022] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Spatial cues presented prior to the presentation of a static stimulus usually improve its perception. However, previous research has also shown that transient exogenous cues to direct spatial attention to the location of a forthcoming stimulus can lead to reduced performance. In the present study, we investigated the effects of transient exogenous cues on the perception of briefly presented drifting Gabor patches. The spatial and temporal frequencies of the drifting Gabors were chosen to mainly engage the magnocellular pathway. We found better performance in the motion direction discrimination task when neutral cues were presented before the drifting target compared to a valid spatial cue. The behavioral results support the hypothesis that transient attention prolongs the internal response to the attended stimulus, thus reducing the temporal segregation of visual events. These results were complemented by applying a recently developed model for perceptual decisions to rule out a speed-accuracy trade-off and to further assess cueing effects on visual performance. In a model-based assessment, we found that valid cues initially enhanced processing but overall resulted in less efficient processing compared to neutral cues, possibly caused by reduced temporal segregation of visual events.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Pavan
- Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Viale Berti Pichat, 5, 40127 Bologna, Italy.
| | - Seyma Koc Yilmaz
- National Magnetic Resonance Research Center (UMRAM), Bilkent University, 06800 Ankara, Turkey; Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program, Aysel Sabuncu Brain Research Center, Bilkent University, 06800 Ankara, Turkey
| | - Hulusi Kafaligonul
- National Magnetic Resonance Research Center (UMRAM), Bilkent University, 06800 Ankara, Turkey; Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program, Aysel Sabuncu Brain Research Center, Bilkent University, 06800 Ankara, Turkey
| | - Luca Battaglini
- Dipartimento di Psicologia Generale, University of Padova, Via Venezia 8, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Steven P Blurton
- Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Øster Farimagsgade 2A, 1353 København, Denmark
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Hou C, Nicholas SC. Perceptual learning with dichoptic attention tasks improves attentional modulation in V1 and IPS and reduces interocular suppression in human amblyopia. Sci Rep 2022; 12:9660. [PMID: 35690626 PMCID: PMC9188564 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-13747-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2021] [Accepted: 05/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Long-term and chronic visual suppression to the non-preferred eye in early childhood is a key factor in developing amblyopia, as well as a critical barrier to treat amblyopia. To explore the relationship between selective visual attention and amblyopic suppression and its role in the success of amblyopic training, we used EEG source-imaging to show that training human adults with strabismic and anisometropic amblyopia with dichoptic attention tasks improved attentional modulation of neural populations in the primary visual cortex (V1) and intraparietal sulcus (IPS). We also used psychophysics to show that training reduced interocular suppression along with visual acuity and stereoacuity improvements. Importantly, our results revealed that the reduction of interocular suppression by training was significantly correlated with the improvement of selective visual attention in both training-related and -unrelated tasks in the amblyopic eye, relative to the fellow eye. These findings suggest a relation between interocular suppression and selective visual attention bias between eyes in amblyopic vision, and that dichoptic training with high-attention demand tasks in the amblyopic eye might be an effective way to treat amblyopia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chuan Hou
- The Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute, San Francisco, CA, 94115, USA.
| | - Spero C Nicholas
- The Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute, San Francisco, CA, 94115, USA
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Exogenous attention generalizes location transfer of perceptual learning in adults with amblyopia. iScience 2022; 25:103839. [PMID: 35243224 PMCID: PMC8857599 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.103839] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2021] [Revised: 09/19/2021] [Accepted: 01/25/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Visual perceptual learning (VPL) is a behavioral manifestation of brain neuroplasticity. However, its practical effectiveness is limited because improvements are often specific to the trained conditions and require significant time and effort. It is critical to understand the conditions that promote learning and transfer. Covert endogenous (voluntary) and exogenous (involuntary) spatial attention help overcome VPL location specificity in neurotypical adults, but whether they also do so for people with atypical visual development is unknown. This study investigates the role of exogenous attention during VPL in adults with amblyopia, an ideal population given their asymmetrically developed, but highly plastic, visual cortex. Here we show that training on a discrimination task leads to improvements in foveal contrast sensitivity, acuity, and stereoacuity. Notably, exogenous attention helps generalize learning beyond trained spatial locations. Future large-scale studies can verify the extent to which attention enhances the effectiveness of perceptual learning during rehabilitation of visual disorders. Contrast sensitivity (CS)-based VPL in amblyopes improves CS, acuity and stereoacuity Similar improvement in trained amblyopic eye and untrained fellow eye Exogenous spatial attention facilitates location transfer of VPL in amblyopic adults
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