The effects of priming on frontal-temporal

Repeated exposure to a stimulus facilitates its processing. This isreflected in faster and more accurate identification, reduced per-ceptual identification thresholds, and more efficient classificationsfor repeated compared with novel items. Here, we test a hypoth-esis that this experience-based behavioral facilitation is a result ofenhanced communication between distinct cortical regions, whichreduces local processing demands. A magnetoencephalographicinvestigation revealed that repeated object classification led todecreased neural responses in the prefrontal cortex and temporalcortex. Critically, this decrease in absolute activity was accompa-nied by greater neural synchrony (a measure of functional con-nectivity) between these regions with repetition. Additionally, theonset of the enhanced interregional synchrony predicted thedegree of behavioral facilitation. These findings suggest thatobject repetition results in enhanced interactions between brainregions, which facilitates performance and reduces processingdemands on the regions involved.

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