Noninvasive modulation of perception and cognition with flicker induced response modulation.

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Project Summary This project investigates the use of repetitive visual stimulation as a tool to improve visual cognition. Surprisingly, the repeated presentation of simple visual patterns can result in long-term plasticity, reflected in increased neural responses, but also in behavioral improvements that last for hours, even days. In current approaches using RVS, however, these improvements are limited to the specific, repeated patterns; this limits the practical usefulness of RVS. The proposed project builds on recent findings in the nonhuman primate demonstrating widespread and general increases in neural responses after the repeated presentation of a uniform grey screen with sinusoidally modulated luminance. The first aim is to show, using EEG, that such long-lasting increases in neural responses also occur in the human brain. The second aim is to determine which aspects of visual cognition are improved by this boost in neural responses. The project will assess improvements in low-level vision such as detection and visual acuity, but also higher-level visual processes such as visuospatial attention, and visual working memory. The pilot data already show widespread neural changes in the human brain and substantial behavioral improvements in, for instance, visual acuity. A successful tool to improve visual cognition would have a significant impact, as it could be used therapeutically in low vision conditions (e.g., amblyopia), but also in the elderly or healthy human subjects, to deliver a boost in performance.