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Development of monotonic neuronal tuning in the monkey inferotemporal cortex through long-term learning of fine shape discrimination

Visual expertise in discriminating fine differences among a group of similar objects can be obtained through extensive long-term training. Here we investigated the neural bases of this superior capability. The inferotemporal cortex, located at the final stage along the ventral visual pathway, was a...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Suzuki, Wataru, Tanaka, Keiji
Formato: Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2011
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3072520/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21198987
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-9568.2010.07539.x
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author Suzuki, Wataru
Tanaka, Keiji
author_facet Suzuki, Wataru
Tanaka, Keiji
author_sort Suzuki, Wataru
collection PubMed
description Visual expertise in discriminating fine differences among a group of similar objects can be obtained through extensive long-term training. Here we investigated the neural bases of this superior capability. The inferotemporal cortex, located at the final stage along the ventral visual pathway, was a candidate site in monkeys because cells there respond to various complex features of objects. To identify the changes that underlie the development of visual expertise in fine discrimination, we created a set of parametrically designed object stimuli and compared the stimulus selectivity of inferotemporal cells between two different training histories. One group of recordings was conducted after the monkeys had been extensively trained for fine discrimination (fine-discrimination period) and the other after the monkeys had been exposed only for coarse discrimination (coarse-discrimination period). We found that the tuning of responses recorded in the fine-discrimination period was more monotonic in the stimulus parameter space. The stimuli located at the extreme in the parameter space evoked the maximum responses in a larger proportion of cells and the direction of response decrease in the parameter space was more consistent. Moreover, the stimulus arrangement reconstructed from the responses recorded during the fine-discrimination period was more similar to the original stimulus arrangement. These results suggest that visual expertise could be based on the development, in the inferotemporal cortex, of neuronal selectivity monotonically tuned over the parameter space of the object images.
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spelling pubmed-30725202011-04-26 Development of monotonic neuronal tuning in the monkey inferotemporal cortex through long-term learning of fine shape discrimination Suzuki, Wataru Tanaka, Keiji Eur J Neurosci Behavioral Neuroscience Visual expertise in discriminating fine differences among a group of similar objects can be obtained through extensive long-term training. Here we investigated the neural bases of this superior capability. The inferotemporal cortex, located at the final stage along the ventral visual pathway, was a candidate site in monkeys because cells there respond to various complex features of objects. To identify the changes that underlie the development of visual expertise in fine discrimination, we created a set of parametrically designed object stimuli and compared the stimulus selectivity of inferotemporal cells between two different training histories. One group of recordings was conducted after the monkeys had been extensively trained for fine discrimination (fine-discrimination period) and the other after the monkeys had been exposed only for coarse discrimination (coarse-discrimination period). We found that the tuning of responses recorded in the fine-discrimination period was more monotonic in the stimulus parameter space. The stimuli located at the extreme in the parameter space evoked the maximum responses in a larger proportion of cells and the direction of response decrease in the parameter space was more consistent. Moreover, the stimulus arrangement reconstructed from the responses recorded during the fine-discrimination period was more similar to the original stimulus arrangement. These results suggest that visual expertise could be based on the development, in the inferotemporal cortex, of neuronal selectivity monotonically tuned over the parameter space of the object images. Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2011-02 /pmc/articles/PMC3072520/ /pubmed/21198987 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-9568.2010.07539.x Text en European Journal of Neuroscience © 2011 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and Blackwell Publishing Ltd http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/ Re-use of this article is permitted in accordance with the Creative Commons Deed, Attribution 2.5, which does not permit commercial exploitation.
spellingShingle Behavioral Neuroscience
Suzuki, Wataru
Tanaka, Keiji
Development of monotonic neuronal tuning in the monkey inferotemporal cortex through long-term learning of fine shape discrimination
title Development of monotonic neuronal tuning in the monkey inferotemporal cortex through long-term learning of fine shape discrimination
title_full Development of monotonic neuronal tuning in the monkey inferotemporal cortex through long-term learning of fine shape discrimination
title_fullStr Development of monotonic neuronal tuning in the monkey inferotemporal cortex through long-term learning of fine shape discrimination
title_full_unstemmed Development of monotonic neuronal tuning in the monkey inferotemporal cortex through long-term learning of fine shape discrimination
title_short Development of monotonic neuronal tuning in the monkey inferotemporal cortex through long-term learning of fine shape discrimination
title_sort development of monotonic neuronal tuning in the monkey inferotemporal cortex through long-term learning of fine shape discrimination
topic Behavioral Neuroscience
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3072520/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21198987
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-9568.2010.07539.x
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