# Mechanisms of Perceptual Learning Transfer

> **NIH NIH K99** · BROWN UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $109,689

## Abstract

Project Summary
Dr. Rosedahl’s long-term career goal is to understand how vision operates in tasks that involve the interaction
between multiple visual processes such as category learning, visual perceptual learning, and visual attention.
This knowledge could be used to design better training paradigms for visual tasks and increase the efficiency
of visual rehabilitation training. In this project, Dr. Rosedahl will examine how category learning and attention
induce visual perceptual learning transfer. Visual Perceptual Learning (VPL) is long-term improvement in visual
tasks like telling the difference between the angle of two lines or detecting the presence of stripes. VPL is one
of the most promising methods to improve vision in individuals with visual impairment. Unfortunately, research
has found that VPL is very specific to the trained task. This specificity greatly limits the use of VPL in training
paradigms for visual rehabilitation and motivates the goal of this work: to understand the mechanisms by which
VPL can transfer to untrained features and visual field locations. This work focuses on understanding two
paradigms that cause VPL to transfer: Category-Learning Induced Transfer of VPL (CIT-VPL) and double-
training. To understand the neural mechanism behind transfer in these paradigms and prepare for his
independent career, Dr. Rosedahl will receive training in technical and career skills at Brown University. He will
be mentored in visual perceptual learning by Prof. Takeo Watanabe, deep neural network models of vision by
Prof. Thomas Serre, and brain imaging techniques by Prof. Yuka Sasaki. Dr. Rosedahl will then build a unified
model of category learning, visual processing, VPL, and feature-based attention (Aim 1). Dr. Rosedahl will use
this model (CAPL) to interpret the results of four experiments to determine if feature-based attention is causing
transfer in CIT-VPL (Aim 2). The experiments will measure performance improvement, neural activation using
functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, and changes in neurotransmitter concentrations using Magnetic
Resonance Spectroscopy. Dr. Rosedahl will also receive training in essential skills to facilitate the transition to
his independent research career, such as grant writing, manuscript preparation, oral communication, lab
management, and preparing job application materials. After securing his independent position as an assistant
professor, Dr. Rosedahl will expand CAPL to include spatial attention (Aim 3) and use the improved model to
interpret experiments testing whether feature-based attention and spatial attention combine to cause transfer in
double-training (Aim 4). Overall, the work proposed here will establish a novel unified model of category
learning, attention, and VPL (CAPL) and provide insight into the mechanisms of VPL transfer, knowledge that
is currently lacking. CAPL will be a valuable resource for the broader scientific community to study visual
learning. Additionally, the ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10886248
- **Project number:** 1K99EY034891-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** BROWN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Luke Arthur Rosedahl
- **Activity code:** K99 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $109,689
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-06-01 → 2026-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10886248

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10886248, Mechanisms of Perceptual Learning Transfer (1K99EY034891-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10886248. Licensed CC0.

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