Elsevier

Vision Research

Volume 47, Issue 10, May 2007, Pages 1350-1361
Vision Research

Mirror symmetrical transfer of perceptual learning by prism adaptation

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.visres.2006.10.028Get rights and content
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Abstract

Recent study of [Sugita, Y. (1996) Global plasticity in adult visual cortex following reversal of visual input. Nature, 380, 523–526.] demonstrated that prism adaptation to reversed retinal input generates the transfer of neuronal activities in monkey V1 to the opposite visual cortex. This raises the question if perceptual learning on one side of the visual field can transfer to the other side. We tested this in using the Gabor lateral masking paradigm. Before adaptation, long-range interaction was induced vertically on one side (i.e., the right) of the visual field with training (perceptual learning). Prism adaptation was achieved by wearing right-left reversing goggles. During adaptation period, perceptual learning transferred to a mirror symmetrical region across the vertical meridian. Results in the post adaptation period revealed that both learning and transfer persisted for over three months. These results provide direct evidence of transferred perceptual plasticity across the visual field, the underlying mechanism of which is supported by the mirror symmetrical connection between the right and left cortices.

Keywords

Gabor lateral interaction
Perceptual learning
Transfer
Prism adaptation
Mirror symmetry

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