Neural basis of the perception and estimation of time.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review and theoretical synthesis without systematic review methodology.
PubMed 23725000 · doi:10.1146/annurev-neuro-062012-170349
What was done
The authors reviewed and synthesized evidence from single-unit recording studies in monkeys and neuropsychological studies in humans with basal ganglia damage to examine how the brain estimates and perceives time in the range of hundreds of milliseconds to minutes.
What was found
The abstract reports no quantitative data or specific effect sizes. Based on the reviewed literature, the authors propose a model wherein a core timing network—specifically the cortico-thalamic-basal ganglia circuit—functions as a temporal hub that interacts with context-dependent distributed brain regions to support interval tuning, intersensory timing, and protect against injury or age-related decline via neural degeneracy.
Why it matters
This review integrates animal electrophysiology and human lesion data into a unified framework explaining how millisecond-scale neural firing supports interval timing across broader behavioral timescales.
Limits
The abstract provides no empirical data, sample sizes, or systematic search criteria. The proposed temporal hub and degeneracy models represent theoretical syntheses derived from heterogeneous animal and human lesion paradigms rather than primary experimental testing.
Cited by
- supports The human brain lacks a single unified region for time perception; distinct neural mechanisms process different temporal scales such as long eras, seconds, and subseconds.