Title: Study Reveals Brain Region Responsible for Perceived Time Changes in Rodents
Subtitle: Researchers uncover groundbreaking insights into the inner workings of the brain’s striatum
Date: [Current Date]
Scientists and philosophers have long been fascinated by the elusive nature of time perception. Now, a groundbreaking study conducted by researchers from the University of Oxford, University College London, and the Champalimaud Foundation in Portugal has identified a specific region of the brain responsible for our perception of time—at least in rats.
In their experiments, the team focused on a deep section of the brain known as the striatum, which is associated with motor and action planning, decision-making, and timing behavior. By manipulating the neural activity of the striatum through small changes in temperature, the researchers were able to alter how the rats judged time.
Lead author and behavioral ecologist, Tiago Monteiro, explained that previous studies have used temperature to manipulate behavioral dynamics, such as bird song. Cooling the brain region slows down the song, while warming accelerates it, without affecting its structure. This led the team to believe that temperature could similarly influence the speed of neural dynamics without disrupting their pattern.
Using implanted devices, the researchers controlled the temperature in the rats’ brains and observed that the activity in the striatum accelerated as the temperature increased and decelerated as it decreased. These changes in temperature and brain activity corresponded with altered perceptions of time, as observed in laboratory experiments.
Importantly, the study demonstrated that these temperature-induced changes did not affect the rats’ movement speed. Rather, they specifically influenced the rats’ ability to decide when to initiate their movements. This suggests that different brain regions are responsible for perceiving the passage of time and controlling the speed of physical movement. The researchers hypothesize that the cerebellum, a region associated with motor control and coordination, may handle the latter function.
While previous MRI data has indicated that the basal ganglia, which includes the striatum, is involved in timing behavior in humans, further research is needed to determine the extent to which these findings apply across species.
Understanding how the brain’s perception of time influences movement and coordination is crucial, as impairments in time perception can have significant consequences for individuals with conditions such as Parkinson’s disease. By shedding light on the inner mechanisms involved in mammals, this study paves the way for future investigations into the intricate relationship between time, movement, and brain function.
Lead researcher Tiago Monteiro emphasized that there is much more to uncover: “What brain circuits create these timekeeping ripples of activity in the first place? What computations, other than keeping time, might such ripples perform? How do they help us adapt and respond intelligently to our environment?”
The research findings, which have been published in Nature Neuroscience, offer a crucial step towards unraveling the mysteries of time perception in the brain.