Training-Induced Changes in Radial-Tangential Anisotropy of Visual Crowding

Malania, Maka and Pawellek, Maja and Plank, Tina and Greenlee, Mark W. (2020) Training-Induced Changes in Radial-Tangential Anisotropy of Visual Crowding. TRANSLATIONAL VISION SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, 9 (9): 25. ISSN 2164-2591,

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Abstract

Purpose: One of the diagnostic features of visual crowding, radial-tangential anisotropy, has been observed both in behavioral experiments as well as in responses of the blood-oxygenation-level-dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) signal. As has been shown previously, crowding is stronger for radially arranged flankers, and this tendency is reflected in BOLD signal suppression. In the current study, we examined the effect of practice on the neural correlates of crowding. We expected that training on a crowding task would cause shrinkage of the crowding zone that would be mirrored in corresponding BOLD signal responses. Methods: Pre-and post-training fMRI images were acquired in 17 healthy volunteers using a 3-tesla MRI scanner. Participants were trained over 4 consecutive days on a crowding task. Results: Comparison of the pre-and post-training behavioral data indicates a significant shrinkage of the crowding zone as a result of training. Moreover, we observed a pronounced radial-tangential anisotropy in the BOLD signal prior to training; that is, radial flankers induced a larger reduction in the BOLD signal compared to equally spaced tangential flankers. After training, this radial-tangential anisotropy in the BOLD signal was significantly reduced. Specifically, we found significant changes in BOLD responses for the radial flanker configuration. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that training-induced changes in the anisotropic shape of the crowding zone are reflected in the BOLD signal in the early visual cortex.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: LATERAL MASKING; CEREBRAL-CORTEX; TIME-COURSE; INTERFERENCE; RECOGNITION; INTEGRATION; RESOLUTION; DYNAMICS; BRAIN; SHAPE; visual crowding; perceptual learning; fMRI
Subjects: 100 Philosophy & psychology > 150 Psychology
600 Technology > 610 Medical sciences Medicine
Divisions: Medicine > Lehrstuhl für Kinder- und Jugendmedizin
Human Sciences > Institut für Psychologie
Human Sciences > Institut für Psychologie > Lehrstuhl für Psychologie I (Allgemeine Psychologie I und Methodenlehre) - Prof. Dr. Mark W. Greenlee
Depositing User: Dr. Gernot Deinzer
Date Deposited: 17 Mar 2021 09:18
Last Modified: 17 Mar 2021 09:18
URI: https://pred.uni-regensburg.de/id/eprint/44068

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