Memory for stimulus duration is not bound to spatial information

Abstract

Different models have been proposed to explain how the human brain derives an accurate sense of time. One specific class of models, intrinsic models, state that temporal information of a stimulus is represented much like other features such as color and location, bound together to form a coherent percept. Here we explored to what extent this holds for temporal information after it has been perceived and is held in working memory for subsequent comparison. We recorded EEG of participants who were asked to time stimuli at lateral positions of the screen followed by comparison stimuli presented in the center. Using well-established markers of working memory maintenance, we investigated whether the usage of temporal information evoked neural signatures that were indicative of the location where the stimuli had been presented, both during maintenance and during comparison. Neural and behavioral measures, including the contralateral delay activity, lateralized alpha suppression and decoding analyses through time, all supported the same conclusion: while the representation of location was strongly involved during the perception of temporal information, once temporal information was committed to memory it no longer showed any relation to spatial information during maintenance or during comparisons. These results support a model where the initial perception of a stimulus involves intrinsic computations, but that this information is subsequently translated to a stimulus-independent format to be used to further guide behavior.

Neural Repetition Suppression Modulates Time Perception: Evidence From Electrophysiology and Pupillometry

“…This experiment was originally designed to investigate whether maintenance and retrieval of durations from working memory would yield lateralized signals in EEG if the interval was presented on either side of the display. The analyses addressing this question are presented and discussed in a separate article (Kruijne, Olivers, & van Rijn, 2021), so as not to dilute the focus of the research question in the present article. Here, we will focus our analysis on one particular aspect of the task: Stimulus locations either changed or repeated in a fully predictable manner but nevertheless had a robust effect on perceived durations.…”

“…In a companion article (Kruijne et al, 2021), we analyzed data from the same experiment and specifically aimed to uncover lateralized signals and their relation to time perception. There, cluster-based permutation analyses indicated that lateralized occipital ERPs were also modulated by block type.…”

Neural repetition suppression modulates time perception: Evidence from electrophysiology and pupillometry

“…This experiment was originally designed in order to investigate whether maintenance and retrieval of durations from working memory would yield lateralized signals in EEG if the interval was presented on either side of the display. The analyses addressing this question are presented and discussed in a separate article (Kruijne et al, 2021), so as not to dilute the focus of the research question in the present article. Here, we will focus our analysis on one particular aspect of the task: stimulus locations either changed or repeated in a fully predictable manner, but nevertheless had a robust effect on perceived durations.…”