title: The brain timewise: how timing shapes and supports brain function.
abstract: We discuss the importance of timing in brain function: how temporal dynamics of the world has left its traces in the brain during evolution and how we can monitor the dynamics of the human brain with non-invasive measurements. Accurate timing is important for the interplay of neurons, neuronal circuitries, brain areas and human individuals. In the human brain, multiple temporal integration windows are hierarchically organized, with temporal scales ranging from microseconds to tens and hundreds of milliseconds for perceptual, motor and cognitive functions, and up to minutes, hours and even months for hormonal and mood changes. Accurate timing is impaired in several brain diseases. From the current repertoire of non-invasive brain imaging methods, only magnetoencephalography (MEG) and scalp electroencephalography (EEG) provide millisecond time-resolution; our focus in this paper is on MEG. Since the introduction of high-density whole-scalp MEG/EEG coverage in the 1990s, the instrumentation has not changed drastically; yet, novel data analyses are advancing the field rapidly by shifting the focus from the mere pinpointing of activity hotspots to seeking stimulus- or task-specific information and to characterizing functional networks. During the next decades, we can expect increased spatial resolution and accuracy of the time-resolved brain imaging and better understanding of brain function, especially its temporal constraints, with the development of novel instrumentation and finer-grained, physiologically inspired generative models of local and network activity. Merging both spatial and temporal information with increasing accuracy and carrying out recordings in naturalistic conditions, including social interaction, will bring much new information about human brain function.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, FI-AALTO 00076, Espoo, Finland riitta.hari@aalto.fi.
authors.forename: Riitta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hari
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, FI-AALTO 00076, Espoo, Finland.
authors.forename: Lauri
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Parkkonen
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D006801:Humans; D015225:Magnetoencephalography; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: brain imaging; hierarchical order; magnetoencephalography; networks; prediction; time
references.citation: Hum Brain Mapp. 2013 Feb;34(2):314-26
references.pmid: 22392861
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008 Dec 23;105(51):20500-4
references.pmid: 19074267
references.citation: Nat Neurosci. 2014 Nov;17(11):1448-54
references.pmid: 25349911
references.citation: Brain Res. 1992 Dec 11;598(1-2):143-53
references.pmid: 1486477
references.citation: Neuron. 2013 Oct 2;80(1):184-97
references.pmid: 24094111
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2008 Mar 5;28(10):2539-50
references.pmid: 18322098
references.citation: Neuroimage. 2014 May 15;92:217-24
references.pmid: 24531052
references.citation: Front Hum Neurosci. 2012 Apr 10;6:83
references.pmid: 22514530
references.citation: Physiol Rev. 2009 Apr;89(2):453-79
references.pmid: 19342612
references.citation: Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2013 Apr;23(2):187-94
references.pmid: 23339864
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012 Jun 12;109(24):9599-604
references.pmid: 22623534
references.citation: Neurology. 1996 Aug;47(2):508-20
references.pmid: 8757029
references.citation: Cereb Cortex. 2015 Sep;25(9):3077-85
references.pmid: 24846147
references.citation: PLoS Comput Biol. 2009 Mar;5(3):e1000302
references.pmid: 19266016
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2011 Feb 23;31(8):2906-15
references.pmid: 21414912
references.citation: Cereb Cortex. 2014 Jan;24(1):17-36
references.pmid: 23010748
references.citation: Hum Brain Mapp. 2009 Jun;30(6):1845-56
references.pmid: 19378277
references.citation: Trends Cogn Sci. 2010 Nov;14(11):506-15
references.pmid: 20932795
references.citation: J Neurophysiol. 1998 Jun;79(6):3272-8
references.pmid: 9636126
references.citation: Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2015 Jun;32:24-30
references.pmid: 25463561
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2013 May 1;33(18):7691-9
references.pmid: 23637162
references.citation: Neuroimage. 2014 Jan 15;85 Pt 2:637-47
references.pmid: 23711535
references.citation: Hum Brain Mapp. 2009 Jun;30(6):1824-32
references.pmid: 19378275
references.citation: Nature. 2014 Aug 14;512(7513):147-54
references.pmid: 25119233
references.citation: Trends Cogn Sci. 2001 Dec 1;5(12):525-532
references.pmid: 11728910
references.citation: Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2013 Apr;23(2):172-8
references.pmid: 23265964
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2008 Apr 9;28(15):4047-56
references.pmid: 18400904
references.citation: Brain Res. 1997 Jan 16;745(1-2):134-43
references.pmid: 9037402
references.citation: Front Hum Neurosci. 2012 Jun 07;6:163
references.pmid: 22701412
references.citation: Cereb Cortex. 1994 Jul-Aug;4(4):331-43
references.pmid: 7950307
references.citation: Nat Neurosci. 2014 May;17(5):647-51
references.pmid: 24762718
references.citation: Lab Chip. 2012 Feb 7;12(3):546-57
references.pmid: 22146898
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 Jun 30;106(26):10587-92
references.pmid: 19553212
references.citation: Neuron. 2013 May 8;78(3):523-36
references.pmid: 23664617
references.citation: Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2010 Mar;1191:89-109
references.pmid: 20392277
references.citation: Cereb Cortex. 2010 Feb;20(2):425-32
references.pmid: 19505992
references.citation: Neuron. 2013 Mar 20;77(6):1002-16
references.pmid: 23522038
references.citation: Trends Cogn Sci. 2000 Jun;4(6):209-211
references.pmid: 10827442
references.citation: Nat Methods. 2013 Jun;10(6):483-90
references.pmid: 23866325
references.citation: Neuron. 2014 Oct 22;84(2):262-74
references.pmid: 25374354
references.citation: Science. 2004 Mar 12;303(5664):1634-40
references.pmid: 15016991
references.citation: Trends Cogn Sci. 2014 Oct;18(10):543-53
references.pmid: 25048821
references.citation: Biomed Opt Express. 2012 May 1;3(5):981-90
references.pmid: 22567591
references.citation: Annu Rev Biomed Eng. 2013;15:383-405
references.pmid: 23862678
references.citation: Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2007 Apr 29;362(1480):649-58
references.pmid: 17301028
references.citation: Neuron. 2013 Oct 30;80(3):751-64
references.pmid: 24183025
references.citation: Nature. 2013 May 16;497(7449):332-7
references.pmid: 23575631
references.citation: Neuron. 2014 Sep 17;83(6):1319-28
references.pmid: 25233314
references.citation: Neuroimage. 2012 Jun;61(2):386-96
references.pmid: 22166794
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1991 Dec 15;88(24):11569-73
references.pmid: 1763072
references.citation: Hum Brain Mapp. 2009 Jun;30(6):1772-82
references.pmid: 19378273
references.citation: Nat Neurosci. 2005 Mar;8(3):389-95
references.pmid: 15723061
references.citation: Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2015 Apr;31:51-61
references.pmid: 25212583
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2012 Mar 7;32(10):3388-92
references.pmid: 22399760
references.citation: Trends Cogn Sci. 2012 Jul;16(7):390-8
references.pmid: 22682813
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2014 Jan 15;34(3):748-57
references.pmid: 24431433
references.citation: PLoS Comput Biol. 2008 Nov;4(11):e1000220
references.pmid: 18989398
references.citation: Nature. 2003 Apr 10;422(6932):596-9
references.pmid: 12686995