Timing functions of the supplementary motor area: an event-related fMRI study

Two previous studies in which we recorded slow brain potential shifts over the scalp revealed performance-dependent effects that sustained one prominent model of timing mechanisms. These effects seemed to be derived from the supplementary motor area (SMA). Event-related functional magnetic resonance imagery (fMRI) was used to check this hypothesis. Brain activations were contrasted in Time production and (control) Force production tasks involving left-hand responding. These tasks, presented in mixed order, were designed to be of equivalent difficulty and involve comparable levels of attention. Several brain areas were activated in both tasks relative to baseline: the SMA, the putamen, and the lateral cerebellum. Contrasts between tasks gave clear-cut differences. Activations specific to the Time task were found in the SMA proper and the left primary motor cortex. The Force task activated the right sensorimotor cortex and the left cerebellum, and, bilaterally, the infero-parietal cortex and the insula. The main result, i.e. prominent activation of the SMA proper in relation to temporal production, corroborates our previous studies based on slow cortical potentials. The data are referred to current evidence suggesting that timing processes are subtended by a striato-thalamo-cortical pathway including the SMA.