Neural oscillations associated with auditory duration maintenance in working memory

Xiaolin Yu,Youguo Chen,Junjie Qiu,Xiting Huang,Xiang Li

doi:10.1038/s41598-017-06078-2

Xiaolin Yu, Youguo Chen + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-06078-2

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Abstract

The neural representation of auditory duration remains unknown. Here, we used electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings to investigate neural oscillations during the maintenance of auditory duration in working memory (WM). EEG analyses indicated that the auditory duration length was not associated with changes in the theta band amplitude, whereas the alpha band amplitudes during 3-s and 4-s auditory duration conditions were lower than during the 1-s and 2-s conditions. Moreover, the alpha band amplitude and accuracy were positively correlated in the 2-s duration condition. We also found that the neural representation of auditory duration is segmented, with a critical threshold point of approximately 2 s, which is shorter than that for visual duration (3 s). The results emphasised the involvement of the alpha band in auditory duration maintenance in WM. Our study’s findings indicate that different internal representations of auditory durations are maintained in WM below and above 2 s from the perspective of electrophysiology. Additionally, the critical threshold point is related to the sensory modality of duration.

Highlights

Time is a basic abstract concept that humans use to precisely process temporal information
Using electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings to examine the neural oscillatory correlates of visual duration in working memory (WM), Chen and colleagues[3] found that alpha activity rather than theta activity was involved in the maintenance of visual duration in WM
Further indications for the perspective of segmented duration representation are derived from the perception of rhythmic coherence and sensorimotor synchronization

Summary

Introduction

Time is a basic abstract concept that humans use to precisely process temporal information. Few studies have investigated the maintenance or manipulation of temporal information in WM3 or the neural representation of duration in WM for different sensory modalities[4,5,6,7,8]. Different alpha activities occurred during WM maintenance below and above 3 s, which provides electrophysiological evidence for the perspective of segmented duration representation[24, 25]. The neural representation of auditory duration remains unknown, and is the focus of our study It is an important characteristic of duration perception that subjectively perceived durations vary between different sensory modalities (e.g. auditory or visual). Considering that auditory signals are often judged to be longer than visual ones[31,32,33,34,35], we hypothesised that the neural representation of auditory duration in WM is segmented, but the critical threshold may be shorter than that for visual duration

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