Cognitive Neuroscience Lab., Department of Psychology, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran.
Iranian Neuro-wave Lab., Isfahan, Iran.
PLoS One. 2018 Apr 6;13(4):e0195380. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0195380. eCollection 2018.
Elucidation of the neural correlates of time perception constitutes an important research topic in cognitive neuroscience. The focus to date has been on durations in the millisecond to seconds range, but here we used electroencephalography (EEG) to examine brain functional connectivity during much longer durations (i.e., 15 min). For this purpose, we conducted an initial exploratory experiment followed by a confirmatory experiment. Our results showed that those participants who overestimated time exhibited lower activity of beta (18-30 Hz) at several electrode sites. Furthermore, graph theoretical analysis indicated significant differences in the beta range (15-30 Hz) between those that overestimated and underestimated time. Participants who underestimated time showed higher clustering coefficient compared to those that overestimated time. We discuss our results in terms of two aspects. FFT results, as a linear approach, are discussed within localized/dedicated models (i.e., scalar timing model). Second, non-localized properties of psychological interval timing (as emphasized by intrinsic models) are addressed and discussed based on results derived from graph theory. Results suggested that although beta amplitude in central regions (related to activity of BG-thalamocortical pathway as a dedicated module) is important in relation to timing mechanisms, the properties of functional activity of brain networks; such as the segregation of beta network, are also crucial for time perception. These results may suggest subjective time may be created by vector units instead of scalar ticks.
阐明时间感知的神经相关性是认知神经科学的一个重要研究课题。目前的研究重点集中在毫秒到秒的时间范围内，但在这里，我们使用脑电图（EEG）来研究更长时间（即 15 分钟）内的大脑功能连接。为此，我们进行了一项初步的探索性实验，然后进行了一项验证性实验。我们的结果表明，那些高估时间的参与者在几个电极位置表现出较低的β（18-30Hz）活动。此外，图论分析表明，高估和低估时间的参与者在β频段（15-30Hz）之间存在显著差异。与高估时间的参与者相比，低估时间的参与者表现出更高的聚类系数。我们根据两个方面讨论了我们的结果。FFT 结果，作为一种线性方法，在局部/专用模型（即标量定时模型）中进行讨论。其次，基于图论得出的结果，讨论了非局部心理时间间隔定时的特性（如内在模型所强调的）。结果表明，尽管与时间机制相关的中央区域（与 BG-丘脑皮质通路的活动有关，作为一个专用模块）的β振幅很重要，但大脑网络功能活动的特性，如β网络的隔离，对于时间感知也至关重要。这些结果可能表明主观时间可能是由向量单元而不是标量标记创建的。
