Current-source density analysis of slow brain potentials during time estimation.
Two event-related potential studies were conducted to investigate differential brain correlates of temporal processing of intervals below and above 3-4 s. In the first experiment, 24 participants were presented with auditorily marked target durations of 2, 4, and 6 s that had to be reproduced. Timing accuracy was similar for all three target durations. As revealed by current-source density analysis, slow-wave components during both presentation and reproduction were independent of target duration. Experiment 2 examined potential modulating effects of type of interval (filled and empty) and presentation mode (randomized and blocked presentation of target durations). Behavioral and slow-wave findings were consistent with those of Experiment 1. Thus, the present findings support the notion of a general timing mechanism irrespective of interval duration as proposed by scalar timing theory and pacemaker-counter models of time estimation.
Gibbons
Henning
H
Georg Elias Müller Institute for Psychology, University of Göttingen, D-37073 Göttingen, Germany. hgibbon@uni-goettingen.de
Rammsayer
Thomas H
TH
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003265:Contingent Negative Variation / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D013998:Time Perception / Q000502:physiology*