Guo Jianfei, Zhang Zhaoran, Makwana Mukesh, Sternad Dagmar, Song Joo-Hyun
Department of Cognitive and Psychological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
Departments of Biology, Electrical and Computer Engineering and Physics, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA.
iScience. 2025 Aug 14;28(9):113367. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2025.113367. eCollection 2025 Sep 19.
Precise timing underlies many behaviors, from musical performance to navigating a dynamic environment. This study examined how stable temporal patterns that emerge during goal-directed movements influence timing acuity in perceptual discrimination. Rather than relying on explicitly timed actions, we used a self-paced throwing task in which temporal structure develops implicitly with practice. Across three experiments, participants were trained for four days, developing stable motor timing reflected in consistent "ball release times." This emergent timing selectively enhanced sensitivity to matching temporal intervals in a perceptual discrimination task. Importantly, this effect was not explained by perceptual learning and persisted over several weeks, suggesting a durable motor-perceptual linkage. The results point to a shared representation of time in action and perception, an emergent timing primitive that arises through experience in spatiotemporal movements. These findings shed light on how motor learning can shape temporal perception in ecologically relevant contexts, with implications for rehabilitation and sensorimotor integration.
精确的时间把握是许多行为的基础，从音乐表演到在动态环境中导航。本研究考察了在目标导向运动中出现的稳定时间模式如何影响感知辨别中的时间敏锐度。我们没有依赖明确计时的动作，而是使用了一个自定节奏的投掷任务，在这个任务中，时间结构会随着练习而隐含地发展。在三个实验中，参与者接受了四天的训练，形成了稳定的运动计时，这体现在一致的“球释放时间”上。这种出现的计时选择性地提高了在感知辨别任务中对匹配时间间隔的敏感度。重要的是，这种效应不能用感知学习来解释，并且持续了几周，这表明存在一种持久的运动-感知联系。研究结果指向了行动和感知中时间的共享表征，这是一种通过时空运动经验产生的出现的时间原语。这些发现揭示了运动学习如何在生态相关背景下塑造时间感知，对康复和感觉运动整合具有启示意义。
