Roberts Mariel, Carrasco Marisa
Department of Psychology, 6 Washington Place, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA.
Center for Neural Science, 6 Washington Place, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA.
iScience. 2022 Feb 2;25(3):103839. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.103839. eCollection 2022 Mar 18.
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.
视觉感知学习(VPL)是大脑神经可塑性的一种行为表现。然而,其实际效果有限,因为改善通常仅限于训练条件,且需要大量时间和精力。了解促进学习和迁移的条件至关重要。隐蔽的内源性(自愿的)和外源性(非自愿的)空间注意力有助于克服神经典型成年人中VPL的位置特异性,但对于视觉发育不典型的人是否也如此尚不清楚。本研究调查了外源性注意力在弱视成年人VPL过程中的作用,弱视人群是一个理想的研究对象,因为他们的视觉皮层发育不对称但具有高度可塑性。我们在此表明,在辨别任务上的训练可提高中央凹对比敏感度、视力和立体视锐度。值得注意的是,外源性注意力有助于将学习推广到训练的空间位置之外。未来的大规模研究可以验证注意力在视觉障碍康复过程中增强感知学习效果的程度。