The ability to predict and generate responses with temporal precision underlies such crucial and diverse human capacities as associative learning, mastering complex movements, music as well as everyday activities such as driving, cooking;indeed, in the absence of a well-developed ability to ability to evaluate time, one would not be able to safely cross a busy intersection. The critical role in behavior played by temporal processing may also be illustrated by the fact that basic mechanisms involved in motor and interval timing appear to have developed early in evolution and been conserved. For example, a well-developed capacity for interval timing has been demonstrated in goldfish, starlings, rats, primates and humans. Indeed, as noted by Gibbon and colleagues, rats exhibit the same scalar property in interval timing demonstrated by humans but do not differ appreciably with respect to temporal precision. We propose a series of investigations to explore the neural basis of temporal processing in humans. Three types of studies will be performed. First, we propose to administer a series of investigations motivated by a contemporary model of temporal processing to subjects with brain lesions involving the basal ganglia as well as specific cortical regions (lateral frontal lobe, inferior parietal lobe;temporal lobe). By comparing the performance of subjects with different loci of brain damage and correlating performance with other measures of memory, language, attention and cognition, we expect to identify the brain regions and mechanisms underlying time processing. A second set of investigations will use functional MRI to explore the anatomic bases of temporal processing in young healthy subjects. Finally, we propose to use transcranial magnetic stimulation to identify specific brain regions that are necessary for normal temporal processing.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01MH076227-04
Application #
7650418
Study Section
Cognition and Perception Study Section (CP)
Program Officer
Rossi, Andrew
Project Start
2006-07-01
Project End
2011-06-30
Budget Start
2009-07-01
Budget End
2010-06-30
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
2009
Total Cost
$338,788
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Pennsylvania
Department
Neurology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
042250712
City
Philadelphia
State
PA
Country
United States
Zip Code
19104
Wiener, Martin; Lee, Yune-Sang; Lohoff, Falk W et al. (2014) Individual differences in the morphometry and activation of time perception networks are influenced by dopamine genotype. Neuroimage 89:10-22
Wiener, Martin; Kliot, Dasha; Turkeltaub, Peter E et al. (2012) Parietal influence on temporal encoding indexed by simultaneous transcranial magnetic stimulation and electroencephalography. J Neurosci 32:12258-67
Turkeltaub, Peter E; Benson, Jennifer; Hamilton, Roy H et al. (2012) Left lateralizing transcranial direct current stimulation improves reading efficiency. Brain Stimul 5:201-207
Wiener, Martin; Lohoff, Falk W; Coslett, H Branch (2011) Double dissociation of dopamine genes and timing in humans. J Cogn Neurosci 23:2811-21
Wiener, Martin; Turkeltaub, Peter E; Coslett, H Branch (2010) Implicit timing activates the left inferior parietal cortex. Neuropsychologia 48:3967-71
Coslett, H Branch; Wiener, Martin; Chatterjee, Anjan (2010) Dissociable neural systems for timing: evidence from subjects with basal ganglia lesions. PLoS One 5:e10324
Gooch, Cynthia M; Wiener, Martin; Wencil, Elaine B et al. (2010) Interval timing disruptions in subjects with cerebellar lesions. Neuropsychologia 48:1022-31
Wencil, Elaine B; Coslett, H Branch; Aguirre, Geoffrey K et al. (2010) Carving the clock at its component joints: neural bases for interval timing. J Neurophysiol 104:160-8
Wiener, Martin; Hamilton, Roy; Turkeltaub, Peter et al. (2010) Fast forward: supramarginal gyrus stimulation alters time measurement. J Cogn Neurosci 22:23-31
Coslett, H Branch; Shenton, Jeff; Dyer, Tamarah et al. (2009) Cognitive timing: neuropsychology and anatomic basis. Brain Res 1254:38-48

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