Common neural mechanisms for explicit timing in the sub-second range.

Temporal processing is crucial to many cognitive and motor functions. Comparing different aspects of temporal processing is important for a fundamental understanding of its neural mechanisms. In this study, the neural substrates activated during duration discrimination tasks across different sensory modalities, audition and vision, and sensory structures, empty and filled interval, were examined using event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The supplementary motor area and the basal ganglia are suggested as the common neural substrates for temporal processing across sensory modalities and sensory structures for explicit timing in the subsecond range.