The article by Wiggs and Martin reviews the properties and mechanisms of perceptual priming, a phenomenon where individuals exhibit improved performance on tasks involving previously encountered stimuli, such as faster and more accurate identification of objects or words. Recent evidence suggests that perceptual priming and decreased neural responses with item repetition share similar properties, including graded changes with multiple repetitions, resistance to manipulations of stimulus attributes, and independence from awareness. These findings indicate that perceptual priming may be mediated by decreased neural responses associated with perceptual learning. The authors discuss the behavioral and neurophysiological aspects of perceptual priming, highlighting that it is long-lasting, incremental, and sensitive to the number of repetitions. Perceptual priming is also resistant to changes in stimulus attributes that affect explicit memory tests, such as size and location, but is sensitive to changes that affect the ability to identify stimulus form. Additionally, perceptual priming is not affected by attentional manipulations and can occur in the absence of conscious perception. Neurophysiological research, including single-cell recordings from monkey cortex, functional brain imaging, and event-related potential (ERP) studies, supports the idea that perceptual priming is mediated by repetition suppression, a phenomenon where neurons in the ventral temporal lobe show reduced responses to repeated stimuli. This reduction in neural activity is associated with a sharpening of stimulus representations, leading to more efficient and faster processing of previously encountered items. The article also explores the developmental course of perceptual priming, noting that it remains stable across the lifespan, unlike episodic memory, which declines with age. Finally, the authors discuss the implications of these findings for understanding the neural mechanisms underlying perceptual priming and its dissociation from explicit memory.The article by Wiggs and Martin reviews the properties and mechanisms of perceptual priming, a phenomenon where individuals exhibit improved performance on tasks involving previously encountered stimuli, such as faster and more accurate identification of objects or words. Recent evidence suggests that perceptual priming and decreased neural responses with item repetition share similar properties, including graded changes with multiple repetitions, resistance to manipulations of stimulus attributes, and independence from awareness. These findings indicate that perceptual priming may be mediated by decreased neural responses associated with perceptual learning. The authors discuss the behavioral and neurophysiological aspects of perceptual priming, highlighting that it is long-lasting, incremental, and sensitive to the number of repetitions. Perceptual priming is also resistant to changes in stimulus attributes that affect explicit memory tests, such as size and location, but is sensitive to changes that affect the ability to identify stimulus form. Additionally, perceptual priming is not affected by attentional manipulations and can occur in the absence of conscious perception. Neurophysiological research, including single-cell recordings from monkey cortex, functional brain imaging, and event-related potential (ERP) studies, supports the idea that perceptual priming is mediated by repetition suppression, a phenomenon where neurons in the ventral temporal lobe show reduced responses to repeated stimuli. This reduction in neural activity is associated with a sharpening of stimulus representations, leading to more efficient and faster processing of previously encountered items. The article also explores the developmental course of perceptual priming, noting that it remains stable across the lifespan, unlike episodic memory, which declines with age. Finally, the authors discuss the implications of these findings for understanding the neural mechanisms underlying perceptual priming and its dissociation from explicit memory.