Search results for "time perception"

"…The times they aren't a-changin'…" rTMS does not affect basic mechanisms of temporal discrimination: a pilot study with ERPs.

2014

In time processing, the role of different cortical areas is still under investigation. Event-related potentials (ERPs) represent valuable indices of neural timing mechanisms in the millisecond-to-second domain. We used an interference approach by repetitive TMS (rTMS) on ERPs and behavioral performance to investigate the role of different cortical areas in processing basic temporal information. Ten healthy volunteers were requested to decide whether time intervals between two tones (S1-S2, probe interval) were shorter (800 ms), equal to, or longer (1200 ms) than a previously listened 1000-ms interval (target interval) and press different buttons accordingly. This task was performed at the b…

The impact of a concurrent motor task on auditory and visual temporal discrimination tasks

2016

Previous studies have shown the presence of an interference effect on temporal perception when participants are required to simultaneously execute a nontemporal task. Such interference likely has an attentional source. In the present work, a temporal discrimination task was performed alone or together with a self-paced finger-tapping task used as concurrent, nontemporal task. Temporal durations were presented in either the visual or the auditory modality, and two standard durations (500 and 1, 500 ms) were used. For each experimental condition, the participant’s threshold was estimated and analyzed. The mean Weber fraction was higher in the visual than in the auditory modality, but only for…

The "ticktock" of our internal clock: direct brain evidence of subjective accents in isochronous sequences.

2003

The phenomenon commonly known as subjective accenting refers to the fact that identical sound events within purely isochronous sequences are perceived as unequal. Although subjective accenting has been extensively explored using behavioral methods, no physiological evidence has ever been provided for it. In the present study, we tested the notion that these perceived irregularities are related to the dynamic deployment of attention. We disrupted listeners' expectancies in different positions of auditory equitone sequences and measured their responses through brain event-related potentials (ERPs). Significant differences in a late parietal (P3-like) ERP component were found between the resp…

Editorial: Timing the Brain: From Basic Sciences to Clinical Implications

2022

On localization of moving objects in the visual system of cats.

1980

In cortical areas direction-specific receptive fields occur systematically. Direction specifity is based on unsymmetric coupling of neurons. Such a coupling allows an exact localization of moved stimuli. For this task, the asymmetry in the time domain is compensated for by a spatial asymmetry.

Spatial-temporal interactions in the human brain

2009

The review summarises current evidence on the cognitive mechanisms for the integration of spatial and temporal representations and of common brain structures to process the where and when of stimuli. Psychophysical experiments document the presence of spatially localised distortions of sub-second time intervals and suggest that visual events are timed by neural mechanisms that are spatially selective. On the other hand, experiments with supra-second intervals suggest that time could be represented on a mental time-line ordered from left-to-right, similar to what is reported for other ordered quantities, such as numbers. Neuroimaging and neuropsychological findings point towards the posterio…

The interaction of language and thought in children's language acquisition: a crosslinguistic study

1997

The purpose of this research was to investigate the potential interaction of conceptual representations and linguistic systems in the process of language acquisition. Language–thought interactions were studied in 80 American, 48 Finnish and 48 Polish preschool children. The research focused on the conceptual and linguistic development of space and time. The spatial and temporal conceptual tasks were designed to measure the transition from experiential to inferential knowledge of space/time representations. In the linguistic domain, comprehension and production tests were used to evaluate the children's capacity to understand mono- and bi-referential location in space and time, where mono-re…

Time estimation and aging: a comparison between young and elderly adults.

2001

Studies about effects of aging on the estimation of short temporal intervals are not conclusive. The aim of the present research was to evaluate age-related differences in the reproduction of a short interval (10 s) using a computerized method. The sample comprised thirteen young adults ( M = 26.15 years) and twelve elderly adults ( M = 79.1 years). Three parameters of time estimation were measured: estimated time, absolute error, and standard deviation. Results showed that time estimates performed by elderly participants were shorter than those of younger ones, although there were no significant differences between the two age groups in the percentage of absolute errors or standard deviat…

2014

Depressed patients frequently report a subjective slowing of the passage of time. However, experimental demonstrations of altered time perception in depressed patients are not conclusive. We added a timed action task (time-to-contact estimation, TTC) and compared this indirect time perception task to the more direct classical methods of verbal time estimation, time production, and time reproduction. In the TTC estimation task, the deviations of the estimates from the veridical values (relative errors) revealed no differences between depressed patients (n = 22) and healthy controls (n = 22). Neither did the relative errors of the TTC estimates differ between groups. There was a weak trend to…

A standard conceptual framework for the study of subjective time.

2019

Research on the mental representation of time ('subjective time') has provided broad insights into the nature of time perception and temporal processing. As the field comprises different scientific disciplines, such as psychology, philosophy, and neuroscience, studies differ with regard to the basic terms and concepts used. For this reason, research on subjective time lacks a coherent conceptual system. We argue that research in the field of subjective time should aim at establishing such a system, i.e., a more standardized terminology, in order to strengthen its theoretical basis and to support an efficient communication of results. Based on key empirical findings and concepts that are com…