[O9] Oral 9: Timing & Time Perception

11:00 AM - 11:15 AM JST(2:00 AM - 2:15 AM UTC)

[O9-02] Mechanisms of Time Perception: Roles of Time-Frequency Power and Cross-Frequency Coupling

*Tereza Nekovarova^1,2, Veronika Rudolfova^1,2, Kristyna Maleninska¹, Ondrej Skrla¹, Jakub Svoboda¹, Jana Koprivova^1,3, Martin Brunovsky^1,3, Vlastimil Koudelka¹ (1. National Institute of Mental Health (Czech Republic), 2. Faculty of Natural Science, Charles University (Czech Republic), 3. 3rd Faculty of Medicine (Czech Republic))

Keywords:

interval timing,pair-comparison task,EEG,phase-amplitude coupling

Time perception in milliseconds to seconds range depends on complex neural dynamics, but its electrophysiological correlates remain poorly understood. This study examines how EEG mechanisms (cross-frequency coupling and EEG band power) relate to the precision and accuracy of temporal estimation.To investigate time perception, we used a pair-comparison task, where two sequential visual stimuli representing time intervals (3.2–6.4 s each, with a total duration of 9.6 s) were presented, and participants indicated which of these two intervals was longer. EEG data were recorded from 36 electrodes (10/20 system) at 1000 Hz, and preprocessed with bandpass filtering between 0.15–70 Hz.Linear regression models with regularization were applied to predict key metrics of temporal accuracy/precision: Point of Subjective Equality (PSE) and Just Noticeable Difference (JND), using PACz (phase-amplitude coupling) and frequency powers as predictors. The model was trained on data from the first session and tested on data from the second session to validate accuracy/precision predictions.A characteristic pattern of alpha and beta band activity – including reduced beta power – was observed in both power and coupling during the early part of the interval, and was associated with improved temporal discrimination. These findings highlight the role of oscillatory dynamics and frequency coupling in time perception.
Acknowledgment:This work was supported by the Johannes Amos Comenius Programme (OP JAK), project reg. no. CZ.02.01.01/00/23_025/0008715 and by the grant from the Ministry of Health Czech Republic (no. NU 22-04-00526).