Learning to filter out visual distractors

Gál, Viktor and Kozák, Lajos R. and Kóbor, István and Bankó, Eva M and Serences, John T and Vidnyánszky, Zoltán (2009) Learning to filter out visual distractors. The European journal of neuroscience, 29 (8). pp. 1723-1731. ISSN 1460-9568

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Abstract

When learning to master a visual task in a cluttered natural environment, it is important to optimize the processing of task-relevant information and to efficiently filter out distractors. However, the mechanisms that suppress task-irrelevant information are not well understood. Here we show that training leads to a selective increase in motion coherence detection thresholds for task-irrelevant motion directions that interfered with the processing of task-relevant directions during training. Furthermore, using functional magnetic resonance imaging we found that training attenuated neural responses associated with the task-irrelevant direction compared with the task-relevant direction in the visual cortical areas involved in processing of visual motion. The strongest suppression of functional magnetic resonance imaging responses to task-irrelevant motion information was observed in human area MT+. These findings reveal that perceptual learning leads to the suppression and efficient filtering of task-irrelevant visual information.

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