Neurochemical and functional interactions for improved perceptual decisions through training

Abstract

Learning and experience are known to improve our ability to make perceptual decisions. Yet, our understanding of the brain mechanisms that support improved perceptual decisions through training remains limited. Here, we test the neurochemical and functional interactions that support learning for perceptual decisions in the context of an orientation identification task. Using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), we measure neurotransmitters that are known to be involved in visual processing and learning (i.e. glutamate, GABA) in sensory (early visual cortex: EV) and decision-related (dorsolateral prefrontal cortex: DLPFC) brain regions. Using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI), we test for functional interactions between these regions that relate to decision processes. We demonstrate that training improves perceptual judgments (i.e. orientation identification) as indicated by faster rates of evidence accumulation after training. These learning-dependent changes in decision processes relate to lower EV glutamate levels and EV-DLPFC connectivity, suggesting that glutamatergic excitation and functional interactions between visual and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex facilitate perceptual decisions. Further, anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in early visual cortex impairs learning, suggesting a direct link between visual cortex excitation and perceptual decisions. Our findings advance our understanding of the role of learning in perceptual decision making, suggesting that glutamatergic excitation for efficient sensory processing and functional interactions between sensory and decision-related regions support improved perceptual decisions.

The effect of acupuncture at the Taiyang acupoint on visual function and EEG microstates in myopia

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Dissecting the chain of information processing and its interplay with neurochemicals and fluid intelligence across development

“…Do the levels of IPS excitation and inhibition regulate the activity of visuomotor regions by regulating local GABA and glutamate within visuomotor regions? Addressing these questions is beyond the scope of this study but can be examined in an investigation combining functional MRS and task-based fMRI ( Jia et al, 2022 ; Koolschijn et al, 2021 ).…”

Dissecting the chain of information processing and its interplay with neurochemicals and fluid intelligence across development

“…Do the levels of IPS excitation and inhibition regulate the activity of visuomotor regions by regulating local GABA and glutamate within visuomotor regions? Addressing these questions is beyond the scope of the present study but can be examined in an investigation combining functional MRS and task-based fMRI (71, 72).…”