Abstract

Translating noisy sensory signals to perceptual decisions is critical for successful interactions in complex environments.

Learning is known to improve perceptual judgments by filtering external noise and task-irrelevant information.

Yet, little is known about the brain mechanisms that mediate learning-dependent suppression.

Here, we employ ultra-high field magnetic resonance spectroscopy of GABA to test whether suppressive processing in decision-related and visual areas facilitates perceptual judgments during training.

We demonstrate that parietal GABA relates to suppression of task-irrelevant information, while learning-dependent changes in visual GABA relate to enhanced performance in target detection and feature discrimination tasks.

Combining GABA measurements with functional brain connectivity demonstrates that training on a target detection task involves local connectivity and disinhibition of visual cortex, while training on a feature discrimination task involves inter-cortical interactions that relate to suppressive visual processing.

Our findings provide evidence that learning optimizes perceptual decisions through suppressive interactions in decision-related networks.

Citations

Frangou, Polytimi; Emir, Uzay; Karlaftis, Vasilis; Nettekoven, Caroline; Hinson, Emily; Larcombe, Stephanie; Bridge, Holly; Stagg, Charlotte; Kourtzi, Zoe. Learning to optimize perceptual decisions through suppressive interactions in the human brain.Nature Communications(10)4742019

Sponsorship: Supported by the NIHR This work was supported by funding to Z.K. from the Alan Turing Institute, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (grants: H012508, P021255), the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (grant FP7/2007–2013 under agreement PITN-GA 2011–290011), and the Wellcome Trust (grant 205067). C.J.S. holds a Sir Henry Dale Fellowship, funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Royal Society (102584/Z/13/Z). E.L.H. is supported by the NIHR Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre. The Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging is supported by core funding from the Wellcome Trust (203139/Z/16/Z).

URI: https://www.oxfordhealth.nhs.uk/orka/title/learning-to-optimize-perceptual-decisions-through-suppressive-interactions-in-the-human-brain-2/