The neural correlates of cognitive time management: a review
Open accessAbstract
Cognitive time management is an important aspect of human behaviour and cognition that has so far been understudied. Functional imaging studies in recent years have tried to identify the neural correlates of several timing functions, ranging from simple motor tapping to higher cognitive time estimation functions. Several regions of the frontal lobes, in particular dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), inferior prefrontal cortex (IFC), anterior cingulate gyrus (ACG) and the supplementary motor area (SMA), alongside non-frontal brain regions such as the inferior parietal lobes, the cerebellum and the basal ganglia have been found to be involved in tasks of motor timing and time estimation. In this paper we review and discuss the involvement of these brain regions in different tasks of cognitive time management, illustrating it with own findings on motor timing and time perception tasks using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The review shows that the same brain regions are involved in both motor timing and time estimation, suggesting that both functions are probably inseparable and mediated by common neural networks.
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Right IFC is a key region mediating time estimation and part of the ventral attention system mediating selective and sustained attention.
“However, right IFC is also a key region mediating time estimation 51, 52 and part of the ventral attention system mediating selective and sustained attention 53, 54.”
From Effects of stimulants on brain function in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis (2014) · cites this paper as [51]
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- Authors
- Rubia, K., & Smith, A.
- Affiliations
- King's College London (GB)
- Venue
- Acta Neurobiologiae Experimentalis
- Published
- 2004-09-30
- Volume
- 64
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 329-340
- ISSN
- 0065-1400 (ISSN-L)
- 1689-0035
- OpenAlex
- W2118591410
- Cited by
- 177
- References
- 6
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 20
- FWCI
- 0.60
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Locations
- Acta Neurobiologiae Experimentalis (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Music Perception
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Motor Control and Adaptation
- Keywords
- time estimation, motor timing, neural correlates, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, inferior prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, supplementary motor area, inferior parietal lobule, cerebellum, basal ganglia
- MeSH terms
- Basal Ganglia, Brain, Cerebellum, Cerebral Cortex, Cognition, Humans, Nervous System Physiological Phenomena, Parietal Lobe, Time Perception
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