{
  "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.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.",
    "College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.",
    "Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing, China."
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 5,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Ruining Guo",
      "orcid": "0009-0009-9775-7889"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "An Yan",
      "orcid": "0009-0007-7819-4377"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Minggui Chen",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-2617-9059"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Wu Li",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-2175-4579"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Yin Yan",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-5594-3020"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/4gq5qttanm30b.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1126/sciadv.aeh5972",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "4gq5qttanm30b",
  "issns": [
    "2375-2548"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aeh5972",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "journal",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2805|Visual perception and processing mechanisms"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7220863398",
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-09",
  "publisher": "American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/4gq5qttanm30b.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:41Z",
      "native_id": "10.1126/sciadv.aeh5972",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aeh5972"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "openalex:2805|Visual perception and processing mechanisms",
      "subfield": "neuroscience"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Specific expertise from diffuse feedback: A feedforward-gated mechanism",
  "title_text": "Specific expertise from diffuse feedback: A feedforward-gated mechanism",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:17:41Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/4gq5qttanm30b",
  "venue": "Science Advances",
  "versions": []
}