Biology subjects

Claessens, P. M. E.

Publications and source records attributed to Claessens, P. M. E..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Separable Codes for Time and Decision in Human Temporal Perception

Time perception involves estimating physical durations and making categorical judgments relative to reference intervals. However, most studies conflate these processes, limiting insight into how they are encoded in brain activity. Here, we used EEG and multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) to dissociate neural representations of time and decision during a temporal discrimination task. Thirty participants (humans of any sex) compared variable intervals to block-specific references, with duration and category (shorter, equal, or longer) manipulated orthogonally. Behaviorally, responses were shaped by target duration, category and recent trial history. An Internal Reference Model (IRM) indicated that participants dynamically updated their internal reference over trials. MVPA showed that both physical duration and categorical decision information were encoded throughout the trial, though with distinct temporal profiles. These signals were represented along separable neural dimensions, enabling their differentiation in brain activity. These findings suggest that time perception relies on parallel, functionally distinct processes for tracking duration and making temporal decisions, supporting models that treat them as independent components of temporal evaluation.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2022

Temporal learning modulates post-interval ERPs in a categorization task with hidden reference durations.

The investigation of time-related activity in human electrophysiological activity has recently expanded from signals during the estimated interval to post-interval activity. Previous findings show timing-associated event-related potentials (ERPs) in both early ([~]150ms) and late positive components (LPC; [~]300ms) post-interval signals. However, it is still unclear whether and what aspects of temporal information these different patterns of EEG activity are capturing, especially, if these signals are associated with interval duration or other task parameters. In the present work, we designed a modified temporal categorization task to investigate if participants adaptation to a changing decisional context led to changes in post-interval ERPs. Participants had to learn a hidden reference duration on each block to categorize the presented target intervals correctly. We found an early posterior N200 potential correlated to target durations and decisional context. A central LPC, which interacted with duration and learning of the hidden reference, predicted behavioral responses. Our findings add to the current evidence that interval duration modulates post-interval activity in timing categorization tasks and shows that late signals are associated with interval duration and decisional context.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2017

A common representation of time across visual andauditory modalities

Humans and non-human animals ability to process time on the scale of milliseconds and seconds is essential for adaptive behaviour. A central question of how brains keep track of time is how specific temporal information across different sensory modalities is. In the present study, we show that encoding of temporal intervals in auditory and visual modalities are qualitatively similar. Human participants were instructed to reproduce intervals in the range from 750 ms to 1500 ms marked by auditory or visual stimuli. Our behavioural results suggest that, although participants were more accurate in reproducing intervals marked by auditory stimuli, there was a strong correlation in performance between modalities. Using multivariate pattern analysis in scalp EEG, we show that activity during late periods of the intervals was similar within and between modalities. Critically, we show that a multivariate pattern classifier was able to accurately predict the elapsed interval, even when trained on an interval marked by a stimulus of a different sensory modality. Taken together, our results suggest that, while there are differences in the processing of intervals marked by auditory and visual stimuli, they also share a common neural representation.

neuroscience↗