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Shift of activity from attention to motor-related brain areas during visual learning

Nature Neuroscience volume 8, pages 1494–1496 (2005)Cite this article

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Abstract

With practice, we become increasingly efficient at visual object comparisons. This may be due to the formation of a memory template that not only binds individual features together to create an object, but also links the object with an associated response. In a longitudinal fMRI study of object matching, evidence for this link between perception and action was observed as a shift of activation from visual-attentive processing areas along the posterior intraparietal sulcus to hand-sensory and motor-related areas.

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Figure 1: Stimuli and procedures.
Figure 2: Learning-related activation changes.

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Change history

  • 09 October 2005

    Replaced supplementary methods.

Notes

  1. In the version of this article initially published online, the supplementary materials were missing an equation. The error has been corrected for the HTML version of the article.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a grant from the Gertrud Reemtsma Stiftung to M.M. and by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft grant Po 548/3–1 to S.P.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Experimental Psychology, Otto von Guericke University, Postbox 4120, Magdeburg, 39016, Germany

    Stefan Pollmann & Marianne Maertens

  2. Day Clinic of Cognitive Neurology, University of Leipzig, Liebigstrasse 22a, Leipzig, 04103, Germany

    Stefan Pollmann & Marianne Maertens

  3. Department of Cognitive Neurology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Stephanstrasse 1a, Leipzig, 04103, Germany

    Marianne Maertens

Authors
  1. Stefan Pollmann
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  2. Marianne Maertens
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stefan Pollmann.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Fig. 1

Event-related fMRI-signal time courses for trials with left hand and right hand responses averaged across tasks. (PDF 466 kb)

Supplementary Fig. 2

Event-related fMRI signal timecourses for matching of category identity (a) and physical identity (b) in the horizontal segment of right intraparietal sulcus. (PDF 285 kb)

Supplementary Fig. 3

Correlation between an late / early learning ratio and late signal increase in postcentral gyrus. (PDF 132 kb)

Supplementary Table 1

List of functional activations. (PDF 41 kb)

Supplementary Methods (PDF 140 kb)

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Pollmann, S., Maertens, M. Shift of activity from attention to motor-related brain areas during visual learning. Nat Neurosci 8, 1494–1496 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1552

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