Learning to filter out visual distractors

When learning to master a visual task in a cluttered natural environment, it is important to optimize the processing of task-relevant information and to efficiently filter out distractors. However, the mechanisms that suppress task-irrelevant information are not well understood. Here we show that training leads to a selective increase in motion coherence detection thresholds for task-irrelevant motion directions that interfered with the processing of task-relevant directions during training. Furthermore, using functional magnetic resonance imaging we found that training attenuated neural responses associated with the task-irrelevant direction compared with the task-relevant direction in the visual cortical areas involved in processing of visual motion. The strongest suppression of functional magnetic resonance imaging responses to task-irrelevant motion information was observed in human area MT+. These findings reveal that perceptual learning leads to the suppression and efficient filtering of task-irrelevant visual information