Neural pattern change during encoding of a narrative predicts retrospective duration estimates.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Psychology
• Time Perception

Background:

• Behavioral studies indicate that changes in contextual features lead to overestimation of past durations.
• The medial temporal lobes and prefrontal cortex are implicated in representing contextual features.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the neural mechanisms underlying duration estimation on the order of minutes.
• To relate the degree of neural pattern change in specific brain regions with duration estimates.

Main Methods:

• Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to measure brain activity.
• Participants listened to a radio story and estimated time intervals between story clips.
• Region of interest (ROI) and whole-brain searchlight analyses were conducted.

Main Results:

• Duration estimates were correlated with neural pattern distance in the right entorhinal cortex.
• A cluster spanning the right anterior temporal lobe showed significant results in whole-brain analyses.

Conclusions:

• Retrospective time judgments appear to be driven by "drift" in contextual representations.
• The medial temporal lobes, particularly the right entorhinal cortex and anterior temporal lobe, support these contextual representations for time estimation.