Context and Crowding in Perceptual Learning on a Peripheral Contrast Discrimination Task: Context-Specificity in Contrast Learning

We investigated contrast processing in relation to visual comfort from coloured light in individuals with migraine. In Experiment 1, 24 individuals who experienced migraine with aura (MA), 15 migraine without aura (MO), and 23 healthy controls, identified which of four patterns, one in each quadrant, had the greatest contrast. Although there were no significant differences between groups, contrast discrimination was superior in the visual field affected by aura in all eight participants in whom the aura was consistently lateralised. In Experiment 2, 20 participants without aura and 20 controls selected comfortable light with a chromaticity close to the daylight (Planckian) locus, whilst 20 individuals with aura chose more strongly saturated colours, mostly distant from the locus. In Experiment 3, nine participants with consistently unilateral aura undertook the contrast discrimination task wearing (a) lenses that provided a comfortable colour of light and (b) grey lenses of similar transmission. With grey lenses, seven of the nine individuals with unilateral aura showed a superior performance in the affected field, as before. With lenses providing a comfortable colour, however, the performance was relatively poor for the nine individuals with unilateral aura, but not for the 10 controls. This was the case in both visual fields. The cortical hyper-responsiveness with which migraine is associated may improve the perception of contrast. The perception is poorer (and more normal) with ophthalmic lenses having a comfortable colour.

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Interocular transfer in perceptual learning of a pop-out discrimination task.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.93.14.7358 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 93 (14) ◽

pp. 7358-7362 ◽

Cited By ~ 55

Author(s):

A. A. Schoups ◽

G. A. Orban

Keyword(s):

Perceptual Learning ◽

Discrimination Task ◽

Interocular Transfer

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Effects of preexposure and retention interval placement on latent inhibition and perceptual learning in a choice-maze discrimination task

Learning & Behavior ◽

10.3758/bf03193194 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 34 (2) ◽

pp. 193-201 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

L. G. De la Casa ◽

William Timberlake

Keyword(s):

Retention Interval ◽

Perceptual Learning ◽

Latent Inhibition ◽

Discrimination Task

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Modeling visual perceptual learning of Contrast Discrimination with Integrated Reweighting

Journal of Vision ◽

10.1167/jov.21.9.2613 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (9) ◽

pp. 2613

Author(s):

Tyler Barnes-Diana ◽

Takeo Watanabe

Keyword(s):

Perceptual Learning ◽

Visual Perceptual Learning ◽

Contrast Discrimination

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Task context modulates feature-selective responses in area V4

10.1101/594150 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Dina V. Popovkina ◽

Anitha Pasupathy

Keyword(s):

Discrimination Task ◽

Feature Space ◽

Task Engagement ◽

Task Context ◽

Area V4 ◽

Neuronal Tuning ◽

Partial View ◽

Color Combinations ◽

V4 Neurons ◽

Passive Fixation

ABSTRACTFeature selectivity of neuronal responses in primate visual cortex is typically measured while animals fixate a small dot on the screen and a stimulus is presented in the near-periphery. This paradigm allows the efficient exploration of feature space, but it provides only a partial view of selectivity by failing to characterize how cognitive factors influence neuronal tuning. Here we focus on primate area V4, known to be influenced by cognitive processes, and ask how neuronal tuning is modulated by task engagement. We compared the tuning for shape and color in 83 well-isolated V4 neurons measured during passive fixation and during active engagement in a shape discrimination task. In both tasks, animals saw the same set of objects—shape x color combinations—but while neither stimulus feature was relevant during the fixation task, shape identity was relevant for behavior during the discrimination task. Consistent with attentional studies, V4 responses during the discrimination task showed a stimulus-independent gain scaling relative to passive fixation, but this was only in a minority of neurons (21/83). For the rest (62/83), response modulations during discrimination depended on stimulus identity: on stimulus shape in neurons more strongly tuned to shape, and on color in neurons more strongly tuned to color. Overall, this resulted in broader tuning for stimulus color, but not shape, during active task engagement. These results suggest that task context can influence the shape and color selectivity of V4 neurons, and in some neurons this effect is consistent with a change in the width of feature tuning.

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Cross-task perceptual learning of object recognition in simulated retinal implant perception

10.1101/360669 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Lihui Wang ◽

Fariba Sharifian ◽

Jonathan Napp ◽

Carola Nath ◽

Stefan Pollmann

Keyword(s):

Object Recognition ◽

Visual Perception ◽

Discrimination Task ◽

Recognition Performance ◽

Naming Task ◽

Task Context ◽

Retinal Implant ◽

Task Order ◽

Correct Object ◽

Task Training

AbstractThe perception gained by retina implants (RI) is limited, which asks for a learning regime to improve patients’ visual perception. Here we simulated RI vision and investigated if object recognition in RI patients can be improved and maintained through training. Importantly, we asked if the trained object recognition can be generalized to a new task context, and to new viewpoints of the trained objects. For this purpose, we adopted two training tasks, a naming task where participants had to choose the correct label out of other distracting labels for the presented object, and a discrimination task where participants had to choose the correct object out of other distracting objects to match the presented label. Our results showed that, despite of the task order, recognition performance was improved in both tasks and lasted at least for a week. The improved object recognition, however, can be transferred only from the naming task to the discrimination task but not vice versa. Additionally, the trained object recognition can be transferred to new viewpoints of the trained objects only in the naming task but not in the discrimination task. Training with the naming task is therefore recommended for RI patients to achieve persistent and flexible visual perception.

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When more equals less: overtraining inhibits perceptual learning owing to lack of wakeful consolidation

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2012.1423 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 279 (1745) ◽

pp. 4143-4147 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Soren Ashley ◽

Joel Pearson

Keyword(s):

Perceptual Learning ◽

Discrimination Task ◽

Training Session ◽

Reaction Times ◽

Motion Discrimination ◽

Improved Accuracy

Performance on perceptual tasks usually improves with training. However, too much consecutive training can be detrimental. Repeated within-day testing or overtraining demonstrates the detrimental effects this has on perceptual learning. Consolidation of learnt information during sleep has the power to prevent such deficits in learning. However, little is known regarding the role of wakeful consolidation in preventing the effects of overtraining. Here, we report that perceptual deterioration may result from the disruption of early wakeful consolidation processes. Three groups were tested on day 1 and again 24 h later, on a motion discrimination task. Participants who had a 1 h break between the two training sessions on the first day displayed improved accuracy on the second day (i.e. learning). Subjects who only completed the first training session on day 1 also exhibited learning. However, individuals who completed two blocks without a break (‘overtraining’) showed no improvement in accuracy on day 2. Interestingly, changes in reaction times were not susceptible to the effects of overtraining, but instead speeded up as a function of total performed trials. These data suggest that effects of overtraining might be due to disruption of wakeful consolidation processes.

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