Early-vision brain responses which predict human visual segmentation and learning
Early-vision brain responses which predict human visual segmentation and learning
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DOI：
10.1167/9.4.12
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发表时间：
2009-01-01
影响因子：
1.8
通讯作者：
Sagi, Dov
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Censor, Nitzan;Bonneh, Yoram;Sagi, Dov
视觉分割的大脑过程已经被广泛研究，是感知的基本过程的一部分。然而，由神经元处理设置的感知阈值的潜在限制仍然不清楚。在这里，人类的视觉表现和大脑活动之间的关系进行了检查使用后向掩蔽纹理分割任务。表现出依赖于目标和面具之间的时间间隔，以及对先前的实践量。相应地，人类事件相关电位（ERP）记录在枕部电极的早期组件表现出强烈的目标和面具反应之间的相互作用，这表明干扰感知过程时，提出的面具与持续的目标处理相互作用。这些相互作用，揭示了一个否则未被发现的延长处理时间过程超出了目标响应的早期组件，使我们能够量化的行为阈值（r = 0.93，p = 0.00003）密切匹配的个别神经元阈值。此外，这些神经元的阈值可以通过练习来提高，这表明知觉学习影响神经元的机制。预测性能水平不直接检测到的ERP，而是进一步的相互作用，在这里显示的早期阶段的视觉层次可能有重要的影响，在人类感知的研究。练习似乎减少了连续刺激之间的时间相互作用，揭示了感知学习背后的大脑过程。
Brain processes underlying visual segmentation have been widely studied, being part of the basic processes underlying perception. However, the underlying constraints on perceptual thresholds, set by neuronal processing, remain unclear. Here, the relationship between human visual performance and brain activity was examined using the backward-masked texture segmentation task. Performance showed dependence on the time-interval between target and mask as well as on the amount of prior practice. Correspondingly, early components of human event-related potentials (ERPs) recorded over occipital electrodes showed strong interactions between target and mask responses, suggesting interference with perception processes when the presented mask interacts with sustained target processing. These interactions, revealing an otherwise undetected extended processing time course beyond the early component of the target response, enabled us to quantify individual neuronal thresholds that closely matched the behavioral thresholds (r = 0.93, p = 0.00003). Furthermore, these neuronal thresholds could be improved by practice, suggesting neuronal mechanisms affected by perceptual learning. Predicting performance level not directly detected in the ERP but rather by further interactions shown here in early stages of the visual hierarchy may have important implications in the study of human perception. Practice seems to reduce the temporal interactions between the successive stimuli, revealing brain processes underlying perceptual learning.