The Internal Clock: Electroencephalographic Evidence for Oscillatory Processes Underlying Time Perception

Treisman, Michel; Cook, Norman D.; Naish, Peter; MacCrone, Janice K.

doi:10.1080/14640749408401112

Cited by 102 publications

(76 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…More sophisticated variations of this model accommodating for the complexity of biological systems have been suggested by Treisman and colleagues (see Treisman et al, 1990Treisman et al, , 1994. For example, different arousal or emotional states, or sensory inputs may affect the pacemaker function by perturbing its characteristic output frequency which in turn might slow or speed up the internal clock function and cause over-or underestimation of time (see Treisman et al, 1990Treisman et al, , 1994. We hypothesize that in DD the pacemaker may commonly tick normally.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

“…Briefly, depending on a sensory arousal centre, the pacemaker usually produces ticks/pulses at a constant basic characteristic rate/frequency (Treisman et al, 1990(Treisman et al, , 1994 and sends them to a counter (i.e., the accumulator). Comparing the values in the counter with the reference duration stored in memory, determines the behavioural response.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Impaired Numerical Ability Affects Supra-Second Time Estimation

Gilaie-Dotan

Rees

Butterworth

et al. 2014

Timing Time Percept

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It has been suggested that the human ability to process number and time both rely on common magnitude mechanisms, yet for time this commonality has mainly been investigated in the sub-second rather than longer time ranges. Here we examined whether number processing is associated with timing in time ranges greater than a second. Specifically, we tested long duration estimation abilities in adults with a developmental impairment in numerical processing (dyscalculia), reasoning that any such timing impairment co-occurring with dyscalculia may be consistent with joint mechanisms for time estimation and number processing. Dyscalculics and age-matched controls were tested on supra-second temporal estimation (12 s), a difficulty-matched non-temporal control task, as well as mathematical abilities. Consistent with our hypothesis, dyscalculics were significantly impaired in supra-second duration estimation but not in the control task. Furthermore, supra-second timing ability positively correlated with mathematical proficiency. All participants reported that they used counting to estimate time, although no specific instructions were given with respect to counting. These results suggest that numerical processing and supra-second temporal estimation share common mechanisms. However, since this conclusion is also based on subjective observations, further work needs to be done to determine whether mathematical impairment co-occurs with supra-second time estimation impairment when counting is not involved in and is objectively controlled for during supra-second timing. We hypothesize that counting, that does not develop normally in dyscalculics, might underlie and adversely affect dyscalculics' supra-second time estimation performance, rather than an impairment of a magnitude mechanism or the internal clock pacemaker.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impaired Numerical Ability Affects Supra-Second Time Estimation

Gilaie-Dotan

Rees

Butterworth

et al. 2014

Timing Time Percept

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“…Such a model could account for the present results if it were assumed that the learning occurred at the second stage, perhaps attributable to a reduction in variability, and that there were independent first-stage oscillators dedicated to different base frequencies. In partial support of these assumptions, Treisman et al (1994) reported electroencephalographic evidence of multiple first-stage oscillators.…”

Section: Models Of Temporal Processingmentioning

confidence: 93%

Learning and Generalization of Auditory Temporal–Interval Discrimination in Humans

et al. 1997

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The sensory encoding of the duration, interval, and order of different stimulus features provides vital information to the nervous system. The present study focuses on the influence of practice on auditory temporal-interval discrimination. The goals of the experiment were to determine (1) whether practice improved the ability to discriminate a standard interval of 100 msec bounded by brief 1 kHz tones from longer intervals, and, if so, (2) whether this improvement generalized to different tonal frequencies or temporal intervals. Learning was examined in 14 human subjects using an adaptive, two-alternative, forcedchoice procedure. One hour of training per day for 10 d led to marked improvements in the ability to discriminate between the standard and longer intervals. The generalization of learning was evaluated by independently varying the spectral (tonal frequency) and temporal (interval) components of the stimuli in four conditions tested both before and after the training phase. Remarkably, there was complete generalization to the trained interval of 100 msec bounded by tones at the untrained frequency of 4 kHz, but no generalization to the untrained intervals of 50, 200, or 500 msec bounded by tones at the trained frequency of 1 kHz. Thus, these data show that (1) temporalinterval discrimination using a 100-msec standard undergoes perceptual learning, and (2) the neural mechanisms underlying this learning are temporally, but not spectrally, specific. These results are compared with those from previous investigations of learning in visual spatial tasks, and are discussed in relation to biologically plausible models of temporal processing. Key words: psychophysics; hearing; perceptual learning; auditory processing; temporal processing; humanThe sensory encoding of temporal information such as the duration, interval, and order of different stimulus features provides vital information to the nervous system. This is clearly illustrated by the ever-increasing evidence of the importance of temporal cues in the perception of speech. The identification of individual consonant-vowel syllables correlates with the interval between air release and vocal cord vibration (e.g., "ba" versus "pa"; Lisker and Abramson, 1964), the duration of frequency transitions (e.g., "ba" versus "wa"; Liberman et al., 1956), and the silent time between consonants and vowels (e.g., "sa" versus "sta"; Dorman et al., 1979). Furthermore, prosodic cues such as pauses, the duration of speech segments, and speaking rate influence semantic content (Lehiste et al., 1976). Indeed, speech can still be understood even when the available cues are primarily temporal (Shannon et al., 1995), but not when the temporal cues are removed either by manipulations of the speech signal (Drullman et al., 1994a,b) or by impairments of temporal processing in the perceiver (Tallal and Piercy, 1973).Most of the temporal cues involved in speech perception fall on a time scale of tens to hundreds of milliseconds. Relatively little is known about the neural mechanisms und...

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“…The neural circuitry proposed by Gray to carry out this process includes the cingulate cortex, and the cycle time was suggested to be of the order of 100 ms. Significantly, Treisman, Cook, Naish and MacCrone (1994) found evidence that the normal 'tick rate' of the internal clock was approximately 80 ms. The similarity between these values invites the speculation that the two cycles may in fact be one and the same.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

The production of hypnotic time‐distortion: determining the necessary conditions

Naish

2003

Contemporary Hypnosis

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An attempt was made to find the components of the hypnotic experience that give rise to familiar time-distortion effects. A series of experiments is described that examined a variety of hypnosis and hypnosis-like situations, known or expected to induce errors of time judgement. It was found that, if participants closed their eyes and imagined vividly, even in the absence of an induction or any reference to hypnosis, hypnotic-like time effects could be achieved. The results are interpreted in terms of the model proposed by Naish (2001), in which it is suggested that an internal clock runs more slowly when a person becomes detached from reality and generates his or her own experiences.

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The Internal Clock: Electroencephalographic Evidence for Oscillatory Processes Underlying Time Perception

Cited by 102 publications

References 19 publications

Impaired Numerical Ability Affects Supra-Second Time Estimation

Impaired Numerical Ability Affects Supra-Second Time Estimation

Learning and Generalization of Auditory Temporal–Interval Discrimination in Humans

The production of hypnotic time‐distortion: determining the necessary conditions

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