Sigman, MarianoPan, HongYang, YihongStern, EmilySilbersweig, DavidGilbert, Charles D.2018-05-032005Sigman, Mariano, Hong Pan, Yihong Yang, Emily Stern, David Silbersweig, and Charles D. Gilbert. 2005. “Top-Down Reorganization of Activity in the Visual Pathway after Learning a Shape Identification Task.” Neuron 46 (5) (June): 823–835. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2005.05.014.0896-6273http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:36640543Learning in shape identification led to global changes in activation across the entire visual pathway, as revealed with whole-brain fMRI. Following extensive training in a shape identification task, brain activity associated with trained shapes relative to the untrained shapes showed: (1) an increased level of activity in retinotopic cortex (RC), (2) a decrease in activation of the lateral occipital cortex (LO), and (3) a decrease in the dorsal attentional network. In addition, RC activations became more correlated (and LO activation, less correlated) with performance. When comparing target-present and target-absent trials within the trained condition, we observed a similar decrease in the dorsal attentional network but not in the visual cortices. These findings indicate a large-scale reorganization of activity in the visual pathway as a result of learning, with the RC becoming more involved (and the LO, less involved) and that these changes are triggered in a top-down manner depending on the perceptual task performed.en-USJournal Article2017-07-1920052018-05-0310.1016/j.neuron.2005.05.014