Xi Jie, Zhang Pan, Jia Wu-Li, Chen Nihong, Yang Jia, Wang Ge-Tong, Dai Yun, Zhang Yudong, Huang Chang-Bing
CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Front Neurosci. 2020 Dec 21;14:555701. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2020.555701. eCollection 2020.
Perceptual learning, the improved sensitivity via repetitive practice, is a universal phenomenon in vision and its neural mechanisms remain controversial. A central question is which stage of processing is changed after training. To answer this question, we measured the contrast response functions and electroencephalography (EEG) before and after ten daily sessions of contrast detection training. Behavioral results showed that training substantially improved visual acuity and contrast sensitivity. The learning effect was significant at the trained condition and partially transferred to control conditions. Event-related potential (ERP) results showed that training reduced the latency in both early and late ERPs at the trained condition. Specifically, contrast-gain-related changes were observed in the latency of P1, N1-P2 complex, and N2, which reflects neural changes across the early, middle, and high-level sensory stages. Meanwhile, response-gain-related changes were found in the latency of N2, which indicates stimulus-independent effect in higher-level stages. In sum, our findings indicate that learning leads to changes across different processing stages and the extent of learning and transfer may depend on the specific stage of information processing.
知觉学习，即通过重复练习提高敏感度，是视觉中的一种普遍现象，其神经机制仍存在争议。一个核心问题是训练后处理的哪个阶段发生了变化。为了回答这个问题，我们在每天进行十次对比度检测训练前后测量了对比度响应函数和脑电图（EEG）。行为结果表明，训练显著提高了视力和对比度敏感度。学习效果在训练条件下显著，并部分转移到对照条件。事件相关电位（ERP）结果表明，训练减少了训练条件下早期和晚期ERP的潜伏期。具体而言，在P1、N1-P2复合体和N2的潜伏期观察到与对比度增益相关的变化，这反映了早期、中期和高级感觉阶段的神经变化。同时，在N2的潜伏期发现了与反应增益相关的变化，这表明在高级阶段存在与刺激无关的效应。总之，我们的研究结果表明，学习会导致不同处理阶段的变化，学习和转移的程度可能取决于信息处理的特定阶段。
