Visual feedback about time estimation is related to a right hemisphere activation measured by PET

Abstract

In previous EEG experiments we have presented a time estimation task to our subjects, who had to press a button with either the left or right index finger 3 s after an auditory warning stimulus (WS). Two seconds later a visual Knowledge of Results (KR) stimulus was presented on a screen in front, informing them about whether the movement had been made in the correct time window (a vertical line), whether it was too early (a minus sign) or too late (a plus sign). The potential distribution underlying the anticipatory attention for the KR stimulus suggested a right hemisphere network in which the prefrontal cortex, the insula Reili and the parietal cortex were involved. In the present positron emission tomography (PET) activation study we aimed to further localize the exact positions of these regions, using the same paradigm. Two conditions were compared in which the WS had to be followed by a button press with the left index finger. In experimental condition A, subjects received true information about their performance, while in condition B false information was given, utilizing the same stimuli, but randomly, thus without any relation to the actual performance. In both conditions identical stimuli were presented and identical movements were made. Therefore we applied statistical parameter mapping (SPM) for comparison of condition A with B in order to identify regional increases in perfusion related to the anticipation and use of the KR. We found in line with our predictions a right hemisphere activation of (1) BA45, (2) the junction of the posterior insula with the temporal transverse gyrus and (3) the posterior part of the parietal cortex. This activation pattern was accompanied by a better performance due to KR. A second, though not predicted, effect was the increase in correct responses during the last two sessions compared to the first two sessions, independent of KR. This learning effect was accompanied by an activation of BA46 and the supplementary motor area (SMA), again in the right hemisphere. Summarizing, two different prefrontal areas in the right hemisphere were activated: a more ventral area, related to the use of external stimuli providing feedback about a past performance, in order to produce movements in time, and another mid-dorsal one, related to temporal programming on the basis of internal cues.

A right hemispheric prefrontal system for cognitive time measurement

“…These findings argue for a general role of these three regions in cognitively controlled time measurement, supporting the conclusions of other authors who have examined similar tasks (Brunia et al, 2000;Coull et al, 2000;Coull and Nobre, 1998;Jueptner et al, 1996;Maquet et al, 1996;Rao et al, 2001;Roland et al, 1981;Tracy et al, 2000;Schubotz and von Cramon, 2001a,b;Schubotz et al, 2000).…”

“…These results imply that continuous timing can be performed more or less automatically by a subsection of the motor system, while discrete timing requires more cognitively controlled processing, especially when the intervals measured are one second or longer, and draws on the right prefrontal and parietal cortices. When studies specifically investigating discrete timing are examined as a group, a pattern characterised by right hemispheric activity in the prefrontal and parietal cortices emerges (Coull et al, 2000(Coull et al, , 2004bPouthas et al, 2005a;Lewis and Miall, 2002;Brunia et al, 2000;Coull and Nobre, 1998;Jueptner et al, 1996;Maquet et al, 1996;Rao et al, 2001;Roland et al, 1981;Tracy et al, 2000). Recent work with transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has further supported the involvement of right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in this type of task (Jones et al, 2004;Koch et al, 2003).…”

The Substantia Nigra Pars Compacta and Temporal Processing

“…Consequently, it has been proposed that the principal anatomical structures affected by these disorders, namely the cerebellum and basal ganglia, must be crucial to the effective running of an "internal clock" (Ivry, 1996). The involvement of the cerebellum and basal ganglia in motor and perceptual timing has been confirmed by imaging studies using various timing tasks, such as the repetitive tapping paradigm (Lejeune et al, 1997;Rao et al, 1997;Rubia et al, 1998), duration discrimination (Jueptner et al, 1995;Maquet et al, 1996;Rao et al, 2001;Ferrandez et al, 2003;Miall, 2003a, 2006;Nenadic et al, 2003;Harrington et al, 2004a), velocity discrimination (Jueptner et al, 1996), rhythm discrimination (Schubotz et al, 2000;Schubotz and von Cramon, 2001), temporal discrimination (Pastor et al, 2006), and time production and reproduction (Brunia et al, 2000;Tracy et al, 2000;Miall, 2002, 2006;Macar et al, 2002Macar et al, , 2004Pouthas et al, 2005).…”

Cerebral Hemodynamics during Maximal Muscle Contraction with Visual Feedback-A Near-infrared Spectroscopy Study-

“…In the present study, the PFC, which could be associated with enhancement of torque exerted during MVC, was measured as a cortical region measurement by NIRS based on the knowledge from previous studies (Brunia et al, 2000;Kawashima et al, 2000). As a result, the right field of the PFC was found to be activated under the VFB condition.…”

“…Kawashima et al (2000) reported that when subjects received appropriate feedback information and those that did not after line drawing tasks were measured for cerebral activity by positron emission tomography (PET), the latter subjects exhibited activated PFC along with improved accuracy of the line drawing task. Brunia et al (2000) reported that subjects who were presented feedback information improved accuracy of button press timing, simultaneously PFC was activated compared with control subjects.From the findings of these previous studies, it is assumed that muscle force is enhanced by MVC when feedback information is presented and this enhancement is associated with the PFC. Thus, the present study measured muscle force on MVC tasks with visual feedback of exerted force.…”