title: Interval timing and the encoding of signal duration by ensembles of cortical and striatal neurons.
abstract: This study investigated the firing patterns of striatal and cortical neurons in rats in a temporal generalization task. Striatal and cortical ensembles were recorded in rats trained to lever press at 2 possible criterion durations (10 s or 40 s from tone onset). Twenty-two percent of striatal and 15% of cortical cells had temporally specific modulations in their firing rate, firing at a significantly different rate around 10 s compared with 40 s. On 80% of trials, a post hoc analysis of the trial-by-trial consistency of the firing rates of an ensemble of neurons predicted whether a spike train came from a time window around 10 s versus around 40 s. Results suggest that striatal and cortical neurons encode specific durations in their firing rate and thereby serve as components of a neural circuit used to represent duration.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Duke University, USA. matthew.matell@villanova.edu
authors.forename: Matthew S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Matell
authors.forename: Warren H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Meck
authors.forename: Miguel A L
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Nicolelis
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D003216:Conditioning, Operant; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000502:physiology*; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D008297:Male; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013998:Time Perception