The functional role of dopamine in visual perceptual learning and cortical plasticity. KU Leuven
The ventral tegmental area (VTA) contains dopaminergic neurons that fire when events are better than expected, leading to dopamine release in connected sites. This firing has been proposed to be at the basis of different forms of learning. One type, perceptual learning, reflects improved task performance induced by repeated practice. Theories of perceptual learning have proposed that interactions between attention and release of ...