Brain activation patterns during measurement of sub- and supra-second intervals
Abstract
The possibility that different neural systems are used to measure temporal durations at the sub-second and several second ranges has been supported by pharmacological manipulation, psychophysics, and neural network modelling. Here, we add to this literature by using fMRI to isolate differences between the brain networks which measure 0.6 and 3s in a temporal discrimination task with visual discrimination for control. We observe activity in bilateral insula and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and in right hemispheric pre-supplementary motor area, frontal pole, and inferior parietal cortex during measurement of both intervals, suggesting that these regions constitute a system used in temporal discrimination at both ranges. The frontal operculum, left cerebellar hemisphere and middle and superior temporal gyri, all show significantly greater activity during measurement of the shorter interval, supporting the hypotheses that the motor system is preferentially involved in the measurement of sub-second intervals, and that auditory imagery is preferentially used during measurement of the same. Only a few voxels, falling in the left posterior cingulate and inferior parietal lobe, are more active in the 3s condition. Overall, this study shows that although many brain regions are used for the measurement of both sub- and supra-second temporal durations, there are also differences in activation patterns, suggesting that distinct components are used for the two durations.
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The coordinates for TMS sites were taken from an fMRI study by Lewis and Miall (2003), in which activation of right and left DLPFC and right AG was found during a temporal discrimination task for both sub- and suprasecond intervals.
“Those coordinates were taken from an fMRI study by Lewis and Miall (2003), in which activation of the right and left DLPFC and of the right AG was found during a temporal discrimination task for both sub-and suprasecond intervals.”
From Role of the Prefrontal Cortex in the Foreperiod Effect: TMS Evidence for Dual Mechanisms in Temporal Preparation (2006) · cites this paper as Lewis and Miall 2003
The right angular gyrus is often associated with temporal processing found in fMRI and TMS studies.
“Moreover, the role of the right angular gyrus (AG) in the FP phenomena was investigated here because this area is often associated with temporal processing found in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and TMS studies (Coull and others 1998;Rao and others 2001;Lewis and Miall 2003;Alexander and others 2005).”
From Role of the Prefrontal Cortex in the Foreperiod Effect: TMS Evidence for Dual Mechanisms in Temporal Preparation (2006) · cites this paper as Lewis and Miall 2003
Activation of the rDLPFC has been demonstrated in brain imaging and TMS studies during temporal processing tasks such as time discrimination and time reproduction.
“In partial support of this view, activation of the rDLPFC has already been demonstrated in a number of brain imaging and TMS studies during tasks dealing with temporal processing, such as time discrimination tasks (e.g., Rao and others 2001;Lewis and Miall 2003) and time reproduction tasks (e.g., Basso and others 2003;Koch and others 2003;Jones and others 2004).”
From Role of the Prefrontal Cortex in the Foreperiod Effect: TMS Evidence for Dual Mechanisms in Temporal Preparation (2006) · cites this paper as Lewis and Miall 2003
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- Authors
- Lewis, P. A., & Miall, R. C.
- Affiliations
- University of Oxford (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Lewis, P.A
- ORCID
- Venue
- Neuropsychologia
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2003-01
- Volume
- 41
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 1583-1592
- ISSN
- 0028-3932 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1993047476
- Cited by
- 466
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 18 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 28 · 2020: 24 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 29 · 2016: 29 · 2015: 19 · 2014: 41 · 2013: 23 · 2012: 33
- FWCI
- 5.37
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Neuropsychologia (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research Explorer (The University of Manchester) (publishedVersion)
- ORCA Online Research @Cardiff (Cardiff University) (submittedVersion)
- University of Birmingham Research Portal (University of Birmingham) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Wellcome Trust
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Music Perception
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Multisensory perception and integration
- Keywords
- temporal discrimination, brain activation patterns, insula, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, pre-supplementary motor area, frontal pole, inferior parietal cortex, cerebellum, auditory imagery, visual discrimination
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Brain, Discrimination Learning, Female, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Nerve Net, Time Factors
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