Retrospective and Prospective Views on the Role of the Hippocampus in Interval Timing and Memory for Elapsed Time

Abstract

The overlap of neural circuits involved in episodic memory, relational learning, trace conditioning, and interval timing suggests the importance of hippocampal-dependent processes. Identifying the functional and neural mechanisms whereby the hippocampus plays a role in timing and decision-making, however, has been elusive. In this article we describe recent neurobiological findings, including the discovery of hippocampal ‘time cells’, dependency of duration discriminations in the minutes range on hippocampal function, and the correlation of hippocampal theta rhythm with specific features of temporal processing. These results provide novel insights into the ways in which the hippocampus might interact with the striatum in order to support both retrospective and prospective timing. Suggestions are also provided for future research on the role of the hippocampus in memory for elapsed time.

Time cells in the hippocampus: a new dimension for mapping memories

“…6a). This view is consistent with a recently proposed distinction between the ability to judge temporal intervals, in which the hippocampus has a secondary role, and memory for temporal organization, in which the hippocampus is central 65,66 .…”

Distortion of time interval reproduction in an epileptic patient with a focal lesion in the right anterior insular/inferior frontal cortices

“…Following the recent discovery of hippocampal neurons showing timing signals during stimulus-free intervals ("time cells"; Pastalkova, Itskov, Amarasingham, & Buzsáki, 2008;Eichenbaum, 2013), the medial temporal lobe has been proposed to play a major role in temporal processing, not only for remembering the sequence of events (Fortin, Agster, & Eichenbaum, 2002) but also for providing an internal representation of elapsed time (MacDonald, Fortin, Sakata, & Meck, 2013). Our own findings are consistent with this view.…”

Clock Speed as a Window into Dopaminergic Control of Emotion and Time Perception

“…While phasic dopaminergic firing is thought to play a role in the 'start gun' process (Kononowicz, 2015;MacDonald et al, 2012MacDonald et al, , 2014, such phasic dopamine bursts may also mediate the transient physiological arousal component of temporal distortion induced by emotional stimuli (Droit-Volet & Meck, 2007;Lake et al, 2016;Schirmer, 2014). The input pathway inducing phasic bursting of dopaminergic midbrain neurons could influence the latency after stimulus onset that these neurons fire, with earlier bursting resulting in increases in temporal estimates.…”