Neural network involved in time perception: an fMRI study comparing long and short interval estimation.
In this study, long ( approximately 1,300 ms) and short duration ( approximately 450 ms) estimation trials in an event-related functional MRI (fMRI) study were contrasted in order to reveal the regions within a time estimation network yielding increased activation with the increase of the duration to be estimated. In accordance with numerous imaging studies, our results showed that the presupplementary motor area (preSMA), the anterior cingulate, the prefrontal and parietal cortices, and the basal ganglia were involved in the estimation trials whatever the duration to be estimated. Moreover, only a subset of the regions within this distributed cortical and subcortical network yielded increased activation with increasing time, namely, the preSMA, the anterior cingulate cortex, the right inferior frontal gyrus (homolog to Broca's area), the bilateral premotor cortex, and the right caudate nucleus. This suggests that these regions are directly involved in duration estimation. We propose that the caudate-preSMA circuit, the anterior cingulate, and the premotor-inferior frontal regions may support a clock mechanism, decision and response-related processes, and active maintenance of temporal information, respectively.
Pouthas
Viviane
V
Unité de Neurosciences Cognitives et Imagerie Cérébrale, Hôpital de la Salpêtrière, Paris, France. viviane.pouthas@chups.jussieu.fr
George
Nathalie
N
Poline
Jean-Baptiste
JB
Pfeuty
Micha
M
Vandemoorteele
Pierre-François
PF
Hugueville
Laurent
L
Ferrandez
Anne-Marie
AM
Lehéricy
S
S
Lebihan
Denis
D
Renault
Bernard
B
D000328:Adult; D001479:Basal Ganglia / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology*; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology*; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors; D013998:Time Perception / Q000502:physiology*