Eldar et al show that neural gain influences learning style.  Subjects learned associations between pictures and reward.  The association could be based on different stimulus dimensions and different people had different predispositions for one dimension or the other.  Eldar et al assessed neural gain by pupil dilation (which is correlated with locus coeruleus norepinephrine activity) and found that the higher the gain, the more likely subjects were to follow their predispositions. The increase in gain was thought to boost the asymmetry of strength between different functional networks which are responsible for the predisposition in learning style.

About the Author


The Miller Lab uses experimental and theoretical approaches to study the neural basis of the high-level cognitive functions that underlie complex goal-directed behavior. ekmillerlab.mit.edu