Both memory and attention systems contribute to visual search for targets cued by implicitly learned context

Abstract

Environmental context learned without awareness can facilitate visual processing of goal-relevant information. According to one view, the benefit of implicitly learned context relies on the neural systems involved in spatial attention and hippocampus-mediated memory. While this view has received empirical support, it contradicts traditional models of hippocampal function. The purpose of the present work was to clarify the influence of spatial context on visual search performance and on brain structures involved memory and attention. Event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging revealed that activity in the hippocampus as well as in visual and parietal cortex was modulated by learned visual context even though participants’ subjective reports and performance on a post-experiment recognition task indicated no explicit knowledge of the learned context. Moreover, the magnitude of the initial selective hippocampus response predicted the magnitude of the behavioral benefit due to context observed at the end of the experiment. The results suggest that implicit contextual learning is mediated by attention and memory and that these systems interact to support search of our environment.

The neural basis of implicit learning of task-irrelevant Chinese tonal sequence

“…3). This finding was similar to previous studies (Albouy et al 2008;Giesbrecht et al 2013;Rose et al 2011;Schendan et al 2003). The reverse contrast did not detect any suprathreshold activation.…”

“…Converging evidence demonstrated that the superior parietal lobe modulated processing of stimuli that automatically captured attention (Mayer et al 2009) and mediated the automatic shifts of attention (e.g., Kim et al 1999;Mayer et al 2009;Salmi et al 2009;Serences and Yantis 2007). Recent neuroimaging studies demonstrated that superior parietal lobule (SPL) activity was modulated by spatial context; that is, it exhibited more robust responses to targets in repeated contexts relative to novel contexts even though participants were unaware of this contextual manipulation (Giesbrecht et al 2013). Giesbrecht et al (2013) argued that automatic attention signaled by the SPL activation contributed to the implicit visual contextual learning.…”

“…Recent neuroimaging studies demonstrated that superior parietal lobule (SPL) activity was modulated by spatial context; that is, it exhibited more robust responses to targets in repeated contexts relative to novel contexts even though participants were unaware of this contextual manipulation (Giesbrecht et al 2013). Giesbrecht et al (2013) argued that automatic attention signaled by the SPL activation contributed to the implicit visual contextual learning. Taken together, we expected that the superior parietal lobule would also be involved in the implicit task-irrelevant perceptual sequence learning.…”

Visual Search and Decision-Making of Volleyball Coaches

“…Esta relação oportuniza a previsão de eventos futuros ao preencher as lacunas dos dados sensoriais, adicionando informações que não foram percebidas fisicamente, baseados na experiência pessoal, conhecimento (que envolve processos da memória) e especificidade da tarefa 5 . Durante a busca visual, por informações relevantes, há o armazenamento de informações sobre o objetivo ou meta, mantendo o sujeito ativo para detectar qualquer estímulo correspondente ao desejado 6 . O conhecimento prévio do ambiente, objeto, objetivos e sinais relevantes da tarefa oportunizam elevado desempenho na TD, suportado pelas estratégias visuais 6,7 .…”

“…Durante a busca visual, por informações relevantes, há o armazenamento de informações sobre o objetivo ou meta, mantendo o sujeito ativo para detectar qualquer estímulo correspondente ao desejado 6 . O conhecimento prévio do ambiente, objeto, objetivos e sinais relevantes da tarefa oportunizam elevado desempenho na TD, suportado pelas estratégias visuais 6,7 . Neste contexto, a experiência possibilita melhor localização e extração de informação visual do ambiente 8 , ou seja, a utilização de estratégias visuais eficazes, resultando em busca visual mais eficiente 9 , rápida e precisa no reconhecimento e recordação dos padrões de jogo 10 , culminando com maior precisão na TD 11 , uma vez que permite interpretações adequadas a partir da informação disponível 12 .…”