Specific expertise from diffuse feedback: A feedforward-gated mechanism.

Authors

Ruining Guo, An Yan, Minggui Chen, Wu Li, Yin Yan

Published in

Science advances. Volume 12. Issue 41. Pages eaeh5972. Oct 09, 2026. Epub Oct 07, 2026.

Abstract

Perceptual learning improves sensory sensitivity through practice but is typically specific to trained stimuli. Two contrasting accounts have been proposed: fine-tuning of feature-selective neurons in early sensory cortex, which raises a stability-plasticity dilemma, and reweighting of stable sensory inputs by higher-level readout. To reconcile these views, we recorded neuronal populations in macaque visual area V4 during training on a camouflaged collinear contour detection task. Behavioral improvements were strictly orientation specific, yet learning-related neural enhancements were unexpectedly widespread, regardless of neuronal tuning. Critically, these enhancements were confined to late, feedback-influenced response components, whereas early feedforward activity remained stable. These results support a feedforward-gated feedback mechanism: Learning potentiates higher-order representations that deliver diffuse feedback, broadly recruiting early cortical neurons, while behavioral specificity arises because this modulation is gated by feature-selective feedforward inputs associated with the trained stimulus. Rather than being sequestered in a single locus or process, perceptual expertise emerges from hierarchical, bidirectional interactions that enable learning while preserving core sensory stability.

PMID:
42842644
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 08 Oct 2026.

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