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Jenks SK, Carrasco M, Poletti M. Asymmetries in foveal vision. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.12.20.629715. [PMID: 39763996 PMCID: PMC11702834 DOI: 10.1101/2024.12.20.629715] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/14/2025]
Abstract
Visual perception is characterized by known asymmetries in the visual field; human's visual sensitivity is higher along the horizontal than the vertical meridian, and along the lower than the upper vertical meridian. These asymmetries decrease with decreasing eccentricity from the periphery to the center of gaze, suggesting that they may be absent in the 1-deg foveola, the retinal region used to explore scenes at high-resolution. Using high-precision eyetracking and gaze-contingent display, allowing for accurate control over the stimulated foveolar location despite the continuous eye motion at fixation, we investigated fine visual discrimination at different isoeccentric locations across the foveola and parafovea. Although the tested foveolar locations were only 0.3 deg away from the center of gaze, we show that, similar to more eccentric locations, humans are more sensitive to stimuli presented along the horizontal than the vertical meridian. Whereas the magnitude of this asymmetry is reduced in the foveola, the magnitude of the vertical meridian asymmetry is comparable but, interestingly, reversed: objects presented slightly above the center of gaze are more easily discerned than when presented at the same eccentricity below the center of gaze. Therefore, far from being uniform, as often assumed, foveolar vision is characterized by perceptual asymmetries. Further, these asymmetries differ not only in magnitude but also in direction compared to those present just ~4deg away from the center of gaze, resulting in overall different foveal and extrafoveal perceptual fields.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samantha K. Jenks
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester
- Center for Visual Science, University of Rochester
| | - Marisa Carrasco
- Department of Psychology, New York University
- Center for Neural Science, New York University
| | - Martina Poletti
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Rochester
- Center for Visual Science, University of Rochester
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2
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Kwak Y, Zhao Y, Lu ZL, Hanning NM, Carrasco M. Presaccadic Attention Enhances and Reshapes the Contrast Sensitivity Function Differentially around the Visual Field. eNeuro 2024; 11:ENEURO.0243-24.2024. [PMID: 39197949 PMCID: PMC11397507 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0243-24.2024] [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: 06/07/2024] [Accepted: 06/24/2024] [Indexed: 09/01/2024] Open
Abstract
Contrast sensitivity (CS), which constrains human vision, decreases from fovea to periphery, from the horizontal to the vertical meridian, and from the lower vertical to the upper vertical meridian. It also depends on spatial frequency (SF), and the contrast sensitivity function (CSF) depicts this relation. To compensate for these visual constraints, we constantly make saccades and foveate on relevant objects in the scene. Already before saccade onset, presaccadic attention shifts to the saccade target and enhances perception. However, it is unknown whether and how it modulates the interplay between CS and SF, and if this effect varies around polar angle meridians. CS enhancement may result from a horizontal or vertical shift of the CSF, increase in bandwidth, or any combination. In addition, presaccadic attention could enhance CS similarly around the visual field, or it could benefit perception more at locations with poorer performance (i.e., vertical meridian). Here, we investigated these possibilities by extracting key attributes of the CSF of human observers. The results reveal that presaccadic attention (1) increases CS across SF, (2) increases the most preferred and the highest discernable SF, and (3) narrows the bandwidth. Therefore, presaccadic attention helps bridge the gap between presaccadic and postsaccadic input by increasing visibility at the saccade target. Counterintuitively, this CS enhancement was more pronounced where perception is better-along the horizontal than the vertical meridian-exacerbating polar angle asymmetries. Our results call for an investigation of the differential neural modulations underlying presaccadic perceptual changes for different saccade directions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuna Kwak
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, New York 10003
| | - Yukai Zhao
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, New York 10003
| | - Zhong-Lin Lu
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, New York 10003
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, New York 10003
- Division of Arts and Sciences, New York University Shanghai, Shanghai 200124, China
- NYU-ECNU Institute of Brain and Cognitive Science, Shanghai 200062, China
| | - Nina Maria Hanning
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, New York 10003
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, New York 10003
- Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin 12489, Germany
| | - Marisa Carrasco
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, New York 10003
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, New York 10003
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Liu X, Melcher D, Carrasco M, Hanning NM. Pre-saccadic Preview Shapes Post-Saccadic Processing More Where Perception is Poor. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2023.05.18.541028. [PMID: 37292871 PMCID: PMC10245755 DOI: 10.1101/2023.05.18.541028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
The pre-saccadic preview of a peripheral target enhances the efficiency of its post-saccadic processing, termed the extrafoveal preview effect. Peripheral visual performance -and thus the quality of the preview- varies around the visual field, even at iso-eccentric locations: it is better along the horizontal than vertical meridian and along the lower than upper vertical meridian. To investigate whether these polar angle asymmetries influence the preview effect, we asked human participants (to preview four tilted gratings at the cardinals, until a central cue indicated to which one to saccade. During the saccade, the target orientation either remained or slightly changed (valid/invalid preview). After saccade landing, participants discriminated the orientation of the (briefly presented) second grating. Stimulus contrast was titrated with adaptive staircases to assess visual performance. Expectedly, valid previews increased participants' post-saccadic contrast sensitivity. This preview benefit, however, was inversely related to polar angle perceptual asymmetries; largest at the upper, and smallest at the horizontal meridian. This finding reveals that the visual system compensates for peripheral asymmetries when integrating information across saccades, by selectively assigning higher weights to the less-well perceived preview information. Our study supports the recent line of evidence showing that perceptual dynamics around saccades vary with eye movement direction.
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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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Purokayastha S, Roberts M, Carrasco M. Do microsaccades vary with discriminability around the visual field? BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.01.11.575288. [PMID: 38260406 PMCID: PMC10802594 DOI: 10.1101/2024.01.11.575288] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2024]
Abstract
Microsaccades-tiny fixational eye movements- improve discriminability in high acuity tasks in the foveola. To investigate whether they help compensate for low discriminability at perifovea, we examined MS characteristics relative to the adult visual performance field, which is characterized by two perceptual asymmetries: Horizontal-Vertical Anisotropy (better discrimination along the horizontal than vertical meridian), and Vertical Meridian Asymmetry (better discrimination along the lower- than upper-vertical meridian). We investigated whether and to what extent microsaccade directionality varies when stimuli are at isoeccentric locations along the cardinals under conditions of heterogeneous discriminability (Experiment 1) and homogeneous discriminability, equated by adjusting stimulus contrast (Experiment 2). Participants performed a two-alternative forced-choice orientation discrimination task. In both experiments, performance was better on trials without microsaccades between ready signal onset and stimulus offset than on trials with microsaccades. Across the trial sequence the microsaccade rate and directional pattern were similar across locations. Our results indicate that microsaccades were similar regardless of stimulus discriminability and target location, except during the response period-once the stimuli were no longer present and target location no longer uncertain-when microsaccades were biased toward the target location. Thus, this study reveals that microsaccades do not flexibly adapt as a function of varying discriminability in a basic visual task around the visual field.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Mariel Roberts
- 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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Fracasso A, Buonocore A, Hafed ZM. Peri-Saccadic Orientation Identification Performance and Visual Neural Sensitivity Are Higher in the Upper Visual Field. J Neurosci 2023; 43:6884-6897. [PMID: 37640553 PMCID: PMC10573757 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1740-22.2023] [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: 09/11/2022] [Revised: 08/02/2023] [Accepted: 08/06/2023] [Indexed: 08/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Visual neural processing is distributed among a multitude of sensory and sensory-motor brain areas exhibiting varying degrees of functional specializations and spatial representational anisotropies. Such diversity raises the question of how perceptual performance is determined, at any one moment in time, during natural active visual behavior. Here, exploiting a known dichotomy between the primary visual cortex (V1) and superior colliculus (SC) in representing either the upper or lower visual fields, we asked whether peri-saccadic orientation identification performance is dominated by one or the other spatial anisotropy. Humans (48 participants, 29 females) reported the orientation of peri-saccadic upper visual field stimuli significantly better than lower visual field stimuli, unlike their performance during steady-state gaze fixation, and contrary to expected perceptual superiority in the lower visual field in the absence of saccades. Consistent with this, peri-saccadic superior colliculus visual neural responses in two male rhesus macaque monkeys were also significantly stronger in the upper visual field than in the lower visual field. Thus, peri-saccadic orientation identification performance is more in line with oculomotor, rather than visual, map spatial anisotropies.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Different brain areas respond to visual stimulation, but they differ in the degrees of functional specializations and spatial anisotropies that they exhibit. For example, the superior colliculus (SC) both responds to visual stimulation, like the primary visual cortex (V1), and controls oculomotor behavior. Compared with the primary visual cortex, the superior colliculus exhibits an opposite pattern of upper/lower visual field anisotropy, being more sensitive to the upper visual field. Here, we show that human peri-saccadic orientation identification performance is better in the upper compared with the lower visual field. Consistent with this, monkey superior colliculus visual neural responses to peri-saccadic stimuli follow a similar pattern. Our results indicate that peri-saccadic perceptual performance reflects oculomotor, rather than visual, map spatial anisotropies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessio Fracasso
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QE, Scotland, United Kingdom
| | - Antimo Buonocore
- Department of Educational, Psychological and Communication Sciences, Suor Orsola Benincasa University, Naples 80135, Italy
| | - Ziad M Hafed
- Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, Tübingen University, Tübingen 72076, Germany
- Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, Tübingen University, Tübingen 72076, Germany
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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: 0.5] [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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Carrasco M, Myers C, Roberts M. Visual field asymmetries vary between adolescents and adults. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.03.04.531124. [PMID: 36945488 PMCID: PMC10028823 DOI: 10.1101/2023.03.04.531124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/10/2023]
Abstract
For human adults, visual perception varies around isoeccentric locations (with polar angle at a constant distance from the center of gaze). The same visual information yields better performance along the horizontal than vertical meridian (horizontal vertical anisotropy, HVA) and along the lower than upper vertical meridian (vertical meridian asymmetry, VMA). For children, performance is better along the horizontal than vertical meridian (HVA) but does not differ between the lower and the upper vertical meridian. Here, we investigated whether the extent of the HVA varies and the VMA emerges and fully develops during adolescence, or whether the VMA only emerges in adulthood. We found that for adolescents, performance yields both HVA and VMA, but both are less pronounced than those for adults.
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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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Gong X, Wang Q, Fang F. Configuration perceptual learning and its relationship with element perceptual learning. J Vis 2022; 22:2. [DOI: 10.1167/jov.22.13.2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Xizi Gong
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, People's Republic of China
- IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing, People's Republic of China
| | - Qian Wang
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, People's Republic of China
- IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing, People's Republic of China
| | - Fang Fang
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, People's Republic of China
- IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing, People's Republic of China
- Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, People's Republic of China
- Key Laboratory of Machine Perception (Ministry of Education), Peking University, Beijing, People's Republic of China
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Cavanaugh MR, Tadin D, Carrasco M, Huxlin KR. Benefits of Endogenous Spatial Attention During Visual Double-Training in Cortically-Blinded Fields. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:771623. [PMID: 35495043 PMCID: PMC9046589 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.771623] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2021] [Accepted: 03/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Recovery of visual discrimination thresholds inside cortically-blinded (CB) fields is most commonly attained at a single, trained location at a time, with iterative progress deeper into the blind field as performance improves over several months. As such, training is slow, inefficient, burdensome, and often frustrating for patients. Here, we investigated whether double-location training, coupled with a covert spatial-attention (SA) pre-cue, could improve the efficiency of training. Nine CB participants completed a randomized, training assignment with either a spatial attention or neutral pre-cue. All trained for a similar length of time on a fine direction discrimination task at two blind field locations simultaneously. Training stimuli and tasks for both cohorts were identical, save for the presence of a central pre-cue, to manipulate endogenous (voluntary) SA, or a Neutral pre-cue. Participants in the SA training cohort demonstrated marked improvements in direction discrimination thresholds, albeit not to normal/intact-field levels; participants in the Neutral training cohort remained impaired. Thus, double-training within cortically blind fields, when coupled with SA pre-cues can significantly improve direction discrimination thresholds at two locations simultaneously, offering a new method to improve performance and reduce the training burden for CB patients. Double-training without SA pre-cues revealed a hitherto unrecognized limitation of cortically-blind visual systems’ ability to improve while processing two stimuli simultaneously. These data could potentially explain why exposure to the typically complex visual environments encountered in everyday life is insufficient to induce visual recovery in CB patients. It is hoped that these new insights will direct both research and therapeutic developments toward methods that can attain better, faster recovery of vision in CB fields.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew R. Cavanaugh
- Flaum Eye Institute and Center for Visual Science, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, United States
| | - Duje Tadin
- Flaum Eye Institute and Center for Visual Science, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, United States
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Center for Visual Science, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, United States
| | - Marisa Carrasco
- Department of Psychology and Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, United States
| | - Krystel R. Huxlin
- Flaum Eye Institute and Center for Visual Science, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, United States
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Center for Visual Science, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, United States
- *Correspondence: Krystel R. Huxlin,
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12
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Hung SC, Carrasco M. Feature-based attention enables robust, long-lasting location transfer in human perceptual learning. Sci Rep 2021; 11:13914. [PMID: 34230522 PMCID: PMC8260789 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-93016-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2021] [Accepted: 04/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Visual perceptual learning (VPL) is typically specific to the trained location and feature. However, the degree of specificity depends upon particular training protocols. Manipulating covert spatial attention during training facilitates learning transfer to other locations. Here we investigated whether feature-based attention (FBA), which enhances the representation of particular features throughout the visual field, facilitates VPL transfer, and how long such an effect would last. To do so, we implemented a novel task in which observers discriminated a stimulus orientation relative to two reference angles presented simultaneously before each block. We found that training with FBA enabled remarkable location transfer, reminiscent of its global effect across the visual field, but preserved orientation specificity in VPL. Critically, both the perceptual improvement and location transfer persisted after 1 year. Our results reveal robust, long-lasting benefits induced by FBA in VPL, and have translational implications for improving generalization of training protocols in visual rehabilitation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shao-Chin Hung
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Marisa Carrasco
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, USA. .,Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, USA.
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