Duration reproduction in regular and irregular contexts after unilateral brain damage: Evidence from voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping and atlas-based hodological analysis

Abstract

It has been proposed that not completely overlapping brain networks support interval timing depending on whether or not an external, predictable temporal cue is provided during the task, aiding time estimation. Here we tested this hypothesis in a neuropsychological study, using both a topological approachthrough voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping (VLSM), that assesses the relation between continuous behavioral scores and lesion information on a voxel-by-voxel basisand a hodological approach, using an atlas-based tractography. A group of patients with unilateral focal brain lesions and their matched controls performed a duration reproduction task assessing time processing in two conditions, namely with regularly spaced stimuli during encoding and reproduction (Regular condition), and with irregularly spaced stimuli during the same task (Irregular condition). VLSM analyses showed that scores in the two conditions were associated with lesions involving partly separable clusters of voxels, with lower performance only in the Irregular condition being related to lesions involving the right insular cortex. Performance in both conditions correlated with the probability of disconnection of the right frontal superior longitudinal tract, and of the superior and middle branches of the right superior longitudinal fasciculus. These findings suggest that the dissociation between timing in regular and irregular contexts is not complete, since performance in both conditions relies on the integrity of a common suprasecond timing network. Furthermore, they are consistent with the hypothesis that tracking time without the aid of external cues selectively relies on the integration of psychophysiological changes in the right insula.

Temporal learning in the suprasecond range: insights from cognitive style

“…Analyses on the CV further showed that performance was more variable in the ECL than in the IBL condition, independently from the reproduction modality. This latter finding is consistent with the possibility that timing in internally-based and externally-cued conditions depends on different mechanisms (Teghil Boccia, & Guariglia, 2019b;Teghil et al, 2020bTeghil et al, , 2020cTeghil, Boccia, et al, 2020), and more generally with recent accounts suggesting that different strategies may be used to time events in a flexible and task-dependent manner (Paton & Buonomano, 2018;Wiener & Kanai, 2016). Also, this result provides further information on the relation between FDI and temporal learning, showing that differences in the extent to which individuals tend to rely on an internal frame of reference may be apparent in the accuracy rather than precision of temporal learning.…”

“…Indeed, it has been proposed that different neurocognitive mechanisms mediate time processing when events and responses are timed independently from external cues or variations in perceptual features of the stimuli (internally-based timing), and when time estimation and/or response timing is based on an exogenous sensory signal (externally-cued timing) (Teghil et al, 2019b). This proposal has been supported by metaanalytic evidence, behavioral and neuroimaging studies, showing that the processing of event and response timing in internally-based versus externally-cued conditions entails significant differences in performance (Teghil, Boccia, et al, 2020) and is associated to not-overlapping brain correlates (Teghil et al, 2019b(Teghil et al, , 2020b(Teghil et al, , 2020c.…”

Multidimensional assessment of time perception along the continuum of Alzheimer’s Disease and evidence of alterations in subjective cognitive decline

“…Thus, here we also investigated implicit time processing along the AD continuum, using a novel task assessing implicit temporal learning. More in detail, based on evidence that different neurocognitive mechanisms mediate timing when events and responses are timed independently from variations in perceptual features of the stimuli or other external cues (internally-based timing, IBT), and when they are timed based on exogenous sensory signals (externally-cued timing, ECT) 27 – 30 , temporal learning was assessed both in an internally-based (IBL) and an externally-cued condition (ECL). Based on previous literature, suggesting that retrospective timing may be impaired in AD and MCI 10 , the estimation of duration in retrospect was also assessed.…”

“…First, we hypothesized that explicit and implicit timing could be differently affected along the progression from healthy aging to AD. Moreover, based on evidence that IBT and ECT processes depend on different neural mechanisms 27 and are affected by different patterns of brain damage 30 , we hypothesized that IBL and ECL could be also differentially affected along the continuum of AD. Finally, we hypothesized that alterations in retrospective time processing may be observed also in individuals with SCD, who often perceive a reduction in their memory skills 31 .…”

Temporal judgments of actions following unilateral brain damage

“…On one side, body impacts on time discrimination, as shown by the correlation between interoception (i.e. the capacity of perceiving information coming from the internal body and to be aware of these information) and accuracy in estimation of time intervals 10 , or by the modulation of embodiment processes in the judgement of time intervals 11,12 . On the other hand, the embodiment of external objects are facilitated by the temporal synchronicity of visuo-tactile stimuli, as shown by the well-known paradigm of hand and full body illusions [13][14][15] .…”