Topic: interval timing

In the real world, object arrangement follows a number of rules. Some of the rules pertain to the spatial relations between objects and scenes (i.e., syntactic rules) and others about the contextual relations (i.e., semantic rules). Research has shown that violation of semantic rules influences interval timing with the duration of scenes containing such violations to be overestimated as compared to scenes with no violations. However, no study has yet investigated whether both semantic and syntactic violations can affect timing in the same way. Furthermore, it is unclear whether the effect of s

To survive in a rapidly dynamic world, the brain predicts the future state of the world and proactively adjusts perception, attention and action. A key to efficient interaction is to predict and prepare to not only “where” and “what” things will happen, but also to “when”. I will present studies in healthy and neurological populations that investigated the cognitive architecture and neural basis of temporal anticipation. First, influential ‘entrainment’ models suggest that anticipation in rhythmic contexts, e.g. music or biological motion, uniquely relies on alignment of attentional oscillatio

Interpretation of interval timing data generated from animal models is complicated by ostensible motivational effects which arise from the delay-to-reward imposed by interval timing tasks, as well as overlap between timed and non-timed responses. These factors become increasingly prevalent at longer intervals. To address these concerns, two adjustments to long interval timing tasks are proposed. First, subjects should be afforded with reinforced non-timing behaviors concurrent with timing. Second, subjects should initiate the onset of timed stimuli. Under these conditions, interference by extr

Over 60 years of research has established that medial temporal lobe structures, including the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex, are necessary for the formation of episodic memories (i.e. memories of specific personal events that occur in spatial and temporal context). While prior work to establish the neural mechanisms underlying episodic memory has largely focused on questions related spatial context, recently we have begun to investigate how these brain structures could be involved in encoding aspects of temporal context. In particular, we have focused on how medial entorhinal cortex, a str

Medium-spiny neurons (MSNs) in the striatum are required for interval timing, or the estimation of the time over several seconds via a motor response. We and others have shown that striatal MSNs can encode the duration of temporal intervals via time-dependent ramping activity, progressive monotonic changes in firing rate preceding behaviorally salient points in time. Here, we investigated how timing-related activity within striatal ensembles changes with experience. We leveraged a rodent-optimized interval timing task in which mice ‘switch’ response ports after an amount of time has passed

Interval timing is a fundamental component action, and is susceptible to motor-related temporal distortions. Previous studies have shown that movement biases temporal estimates, but have primarily considered self-modulated movement only. However, real-world encounters often include situations in which movement is restricted or perturbed by environmental factors. In the following experiments, we introduced viscous movement environments to externally modulate movement and investigated the resulting effects on temporal perception. In two separate tasks, participants timed auditory intervals while

The entorhinal cortex (EC) sits at a critical junction where sensory input and higher-level processing converge and is necessary for learning interval timing and relating durations in distinct temporal contexts[1]. “Time cells” in the medial subdivision of the EC (MEC) tile task durations during a temporal variant of the Delay Non-match to Sample (tDNMS) task in which animals must detect non-matching durations. Over training, subpopulations of MEC time cells become context-dependent showing differential activity across different trial types. While attractor models of EC activity predict experi

Humans keep track of temporal intervals for different goals, from explicitly reporting perceived magnitudes to implicitly orienting attention in time. Whether overlapping or segregated timing mechanisms subserve these timing processes is a key neuroscientific question. Neuroimaging studies revealed goal-dependent functional dissociations, mostly at the cortical level. However, recent behavioral work hints to computational overlap. Moreover, separate lines of research have implicated the cerebellum in both explicit and implicit interval timing, but whether this reflects one shared or two contex