台大心理系

Perceptual learning significantly improves visual discrimination and detection ability, which has been associated with visual cortical plasticity. However, little is known about the dynamic changes in neuronal response properties over the course of training. In this study, using chronically implanted multielectrode arrays, we were able to capture day-by-day spatiotemporal dynamics of neurons in the primary visual cortex (V1) of monkeys trained to detect camouflaged visual contours. We found progressive strengthening and accelerating in both facilitation of neurons encoding the contour elements and suppression of neurons responding to the background components. The enhancement of this push-pull process in V1 was closely correlated with improved behavioral performance on a daily basis. Decoding accuracy of a simple linear classifier based on V1 population responses also paralleled the animal’s behavioral changes. Ourresults indicate that perceptual learning shapes the V1 population code to allow for a more efficient readout of task-relevant information.