Abstract
Time is a fundamental dimension, but millisecond-level judgments sometimes lead to perceptual illusions. We previously introduced a “time-shrinking illusion” using a psychological paradigm that induces auditory temporal assimilation (ATA). In ATA, the duration of two successive intervals (T1 and T2), marked by three auditory stimuli, can be perceived as equal when they are not. Here, we investigate the spatiotemporal profile of human temporal judgments using magnetoencephalography (MEG). Behavioural results showed typical ATA: participants judged T1 and T2 as equal when T2 − T1 ≤ +80 ms. MEG source-localisation analysis demonstrated that regional activity differences between judgment and no-judgment conditions emerged in the temporoparietal junction (TPJ) during T2. This observation in the TPJ may indicate its involvement in the encoding process when T1 ≠ T2. Activation in the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) was enhanced irrespective of the stimulus patterns when participants engaged in temporal judgment. Furthermore, just after the final marker, activity in the IFG was enhanced specifically for the time-shrinking pattern. This indicates that activity in the IFG is also related to the illusory perception of time-interval equality. Based on these observations, we propose neural signatures for judgments of temporal equality in the human brain.
Highlights
Keeping track of time is an essential cognitive ability governed by synchronisation of neural networks in the brain
Our previous electrophysiological studies[10, 11] demonstrated that event related potentials (ERPs) in the frontal regions were related to the auditory temporal assimilation (ATA); the contingent negative variation appeared within 100 ms during T2 and the slow negative component related to temporal judgment appeared within 80 ms after T2
To determine the precise spatiotemporal dynamics of ATA, we focused on the frontal and parietal areas that are assumed to be related to encoding and judgment in cognitive time estimation
Summary
Keeping track of time is an essential cognitive ability governed by synchronisation of neural networks in the brain. The magnitude of the ATA is markedly greater when the first interval is shorter than the second one (but not vice versa) This is the result of the “time-shrinking illusion,” in which the subjective duration of T2 “shrinks” and becomes close to T17, 8. Our goal was to clarify the neural mechanism underlying the time-shrinking illusion under ATA and to expand our understanding of human sub-second cognitive temporal processing. To determine the precise spatiotemporal dynamics of ATA, we focused on the frontal and parietal areas that are assumed to be related to encoding and judgment in cognitive time estimation. This was because our previous psychophysical and electrophysiological studies of ATA7, 10, 11, 18 suggested that encoding and judgment processes via the frontal and parietal areas are the key signatures of ATA
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