Auditory Discrimination Learning: Role of Working Memory.
Perceptual training is generally assumed to improve perception by modifying the encoding or decoding of sensory information. However, this assumption is incompatible with recent demonstrations that transfer of learning can be enhanced by across-trial variation of training stimuli or task. Here we pr...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2016-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0147320 |
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| author | Yu-Xuan Zhang David R Moore Jeanne Guiraud Katharine Molloy Ting-Ting Yan Sygal Amitay |
| author_facet | Yu-Xuan Zhang David R Moore Jeanne Guiraud Katharine Molloy Ting-Ting Yan Sygal Amitay |
| author_sort | Yu-Xuan Zhang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Perceptual training is generally assumed to improve perception by modifying the encoding or decoding of sensory information. However, this assumption is incompatible with recent demonstrations that transfer of learning can be enhanced by across-trial variation of training stimuli or task. Here we present three lines of evidence from healthy adults in support of the idea that the enhanced transfer of auditory discrimination learning is mediated by working memory (WM). First, the ability to discriminate small differences in tone frequency or duration was correlated with WM measured with a tone n-back task. Second, training frequency discrimination around a variable frequency transferred to and from WM learning, but training around a fixed frequency did not. The transfer of learning in both directions was correlated with a reduction of the influence of stimulus variation in the discrimination task, linking WM and its improvement to across-trial stimulus interaction in auditory discrimination. Third, while WM training transferred broadly to other WM and auditory discrimination tasks, variable-frequency training on duration discrimination did not improve WM, indicating that stimulus variation challenges and trains WM only if the task demands stimulus updating in the varied dimension. The results provide empirical evidence as well as a theoretic framework for interactions between cognitive and sensory plasticity during perceptual experience. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-6f9bfd251abc4317917a997dcbcb2e92 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2016-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj-art-6f9bfd251abc4317917a997dcbcb2e922025-08-20T02:22:40ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032016-01-01111e014732010.1371/journal.pone.0147320Auditory Discrimination Learning: Role of Working Memory.Yu-Xuan ZhangDavid R MooreJeanne GuiraudKatharine MolloyTing-Ting YanSygal AmitayPerceptual training is generally assumed to improve perception by modifying the encoding or decoding of sensory information. However, this assumption is incompatible with recent demonstrations that transfer of learning can be enhanced by across-trial variation of training stimuli or task. Here we present three lines of evidence from healthy adults in support of the idea that the enhanced transfer of auditory discrimination learning is mediated by working memory (WM). First, the ability to discriminate small differences in tone frequency or duration was correlated with WM measured with a tone n-back task. Second, training frequency discrimination around a variable frequency transferred to and from WM learning, but training around a fixed frequency did not. The transfer of learning in both directions was correlated with a reduction of the influence of stimulus variation in the discrimination task, linking WM and its improvement to across-trial stimulus interaction in auditory discrimination. Third, while WM training transferred broadly to other WM and auditory discrimination tasks, variable-frequency training on duration discrimination did not improve WM, indicating that stimulus variation challenges and trains WM only if the task demands stimulus updating in the varied dimension. The results provide empirical evidence as well as a theoretic framework for interactions between cognitive and sensory plasticity during perceptual experience.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0147320 |
| spellingShingle | Yu-Xuan Zhang David R Moore Jeanne Guiraud Katharine Molloy Ting-Ting Yan Sygal Amitay Auditory Discrimination Learning: Role of Working Memory. PLoS ONE |
| title | Auditory Discrimination Learning: Role of Working Memory. |
| title_full | Auditory Discrimination Learning: Role of Working Memory. |
| title_fullStr | Auditory Discrimination Learning: Role of Working Memory. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Auditory Discrimination Learning: Role of Working Memory. |
| title_short | Auditory Discrimination Learning: Role of Working Memory. |
| title_sort | auditory discrimination learning role of working memory |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0147320 |
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