Ricerc@Sapienza

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 approach – through voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping (VLSM), that assesses the relation between continuous behavioral scores and lesion information on a voxel-by-voxel basis – and a hodological approach, using an atlas-based tractography.

A dynamic interplay exists between Internally-Based (IBT) and Externally-Cued (ECT) time processing. While IBT processes support the self-generation of context-independent temporal representations, ECT mechanisms allow constructing temporal representations primarily derived from the structure of the sensory environment. We performed an activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis on 177 fMRI experiments, from 79 articles, to identify brain areas involved in timing; two individual ALEs tested the hypothesis of a neural segregation between IBT and ECT.

Environmental navigation entails the constant integration of information across space and time; however, the relation between spatial and temporal features involved in wayfinding has not been fully established yet. Here we investigated how two key spatio-temporal aspects of navigation – namely the processing of information concerning the order of landmarks along a route, and the duration of tracts connecting the same landmarks – relate to different types of navigational learning.

Field dependence–independence (FDI) is a stable dimension of individual functioning, transversal to different cognitive domains. While the role of some individual variables in time perception has received considerable attention, it is not clear whether and how FDI influences timing abilities. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that FDI differently affects timing performance depending on whether the task requires cognitive restructuring. Participants were assessed for FDI using the embedded figures test (EFT).

Awareness of psychophysiological changes has been proposed to play a role in duration perception; however, evidence on whether interoceptive awareness affects timing is mixed, and it is not clear which task features favor the reliance on bodily changes to track time. Here we tested the hypothesis that interoceptive awareness is selectively involved in timing when the context does not provide reliable cues on elapsed time.

Influences between time and space can be found in our daily life in which we are surrounded by numerous spatial metaphors to refer to time. For instance, when we move files from one folder to another in our computer a horizontal line that grows from left to right informs us about the elapsed and remaining time to finish the procedure and, similarly, in our communication we use several spatial terms to refer to time. Although with some differences in the degree of interference, not only space has an influence on time but both magnitudes influence each other.