TY - JOUR T1 - Affective Learning Enhances Visual Detection and Responses in Primary Visual Cortex JF - The Journal of Neuroscience JO - J. Neurosci. SP - 6202 LP - 6210 DO - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1233-08.2008 VL - 28 IS - 24 AU - Srikanth Padmala AU - Luiz Pessoa Y1 - 2008/06/11 UR - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/28/24/6202.abstract N2 - The affective significance of a visual item is thought to lead to enhanced visual processing. However, the precise link between enhanced visual perception of emotion-laden items and increased visual responses remains poorly understood. To investigate this link, we acquired functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data while participants performed a challenging visual detection task. Grating stimuli were physically identical and differed only as a function of their previous exposure history; CS+ stimuli were initially paired with shock, whereas CS− stimuli were not. Behaviorally, subjects were both faster and more accurate during CS+ relative to CS− target detection. These behavioral results were paralleled by increases in fMRI responses across early, retinotopically organized visual cortex, which was mapped in a separate fMRI session. Logistic regression analyses revealed that trial-by-trial fluctuations in fMRI responses were closely linked to trial type, such that fMRI signal strength reliably predicted the probability of a hit trial across retinotopically organized visual cortex, including area V1. For instance, during the CS+ condition, a 0.5% signal change increased the probability of a hit from chance to 67.3–73.5% in V1–V4 (the highest increase was observed in area V1). Furthermore, across participants, differential fMRI responses to hits versus correct rejects were correlated with behavioral performance. Our findings provide a close link between increased activation in early visual cortex and improved behavioral performance as a function of the affective significance of an item. ER -