# Comprehensive frameworks of perceptual learning

> **NIH NIH R01** · BROWN UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $396,813

## Abstract

Visual perceptual learning (VPL) is defined as a long-term increase in visual performance as a result of
visual experiences. The purpose of the proposed project entitled “Comprehensive frameworks of perceptual
learning” is to advance the uncovering of the mechanisms underlying VPL and the basic mechanisms
underlying visual and brain plasticity. This may, in turn, lead to interventions that are able to ameliorate
diseases affecting vision and other pathological or age-related visual declines. We have identified three issues
that must be resolved. First, there are contradictory interpretations of studies as to whether or not task-relevant
VPL (R-VPL), defined as VPL of a feature relevant to a given task, is associated with a low- or higher-level
stage in visual processing. A second issue involves whether R-VPL and task-irrelevant VPL (I-VPL), defined as
VPL of a feature not relevant to a given task, are related to each other and, if they are, what the mechanisms
are that connect them. A third issue is that there is no systematic research to test whether VPLs of different
features (e.g., motion and shape) have the same underlying mechanism(s). To investigate these two issues,
We will test the following three specific aims examining how local and global features are learned, using
psychophysics and the online fMRI decoded neurofeedback.
 Specific Aim 1 will address the question as to which stage in the visual/brain processing and what
mechanisms underlie R-VPL of motion.
Hypothesis (H)1a: R-VPL of motion consists of both active plasticity developed with conscious effort and
passive plasticity developed without conscious effort.
H1b: Different types of plasticity in VPL of motion occur at different stages in visual processing as well as in
different phases during the time course of learning.
 Specific Aim 2 will address the similarities between I-VPL and R-VPL of motion.
H2a: The plasticity underlying I-VPL of motion is similar to passive plasticity in R-VPL of motion.
H2b: I-VPL of motion occurs at the same phase in the timecourse of learning as passive plasticity in R-VPL of
motion.
 Specific Aim 3 will examine how much the mechanisms involved in the VPL of motion can be
generalized to VPL of shape of the target stimulus.
H3a: There are passive and active plasticity in VPL of shape.
H3b: Passive and active plasticity in VPL of shape occurs in different brain areas at different phases in the
timecourse of learning.
 Through these experiments, we aim to provide important information toward a comprehensive framework
to integrate and compromise controversies over VPL.
!

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9942456
- **Project number:** 5R01EY027841-03
- **Recipient organization:** BROWN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Takeo Watanabe
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $396,813
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-06-01 → 2022-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9942456

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9942456, Comprehensive frameworks of perceptual learning (5R01EY027841-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9942456. Licensed CC0.

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