Neural basis for our perception of temporal order

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project Area: The Science of Mental Time: investigation into the past, present, and future
• Project/Area Number: 25119002
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (Research in a proposed research area)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Review Section: Complex systems
• Research Institution: Osaka University
• Principal Investigator: KITAZAWA Shigeru 大阪大学, 生命機能研究科, 教授 (00251231)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): NAKANO Tamami 大阪大学, 生命機能研究科, 准教授 (90589201) ; TAKAHASHI Toshimitsu 大阪大学, 生命機能研究科, 助教 (00250704) ; KUMANO Hironori 山梨大学, 総合研究部, 助教 (40568325)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-06-28 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: こころの時間 / 時間順序判断 / 楔前部 / α波

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We refer to the awareness of time, over the past, present and future, as the “mental time”. This project aimed at elucidating neural basis for the flow of time around the “present” in particular. Our study has shown that 1) the alpha-band rhythm with its source located in the medial surface of the cerebral cortex (precuneus) plays an essential role in the determination of temporal order between two successive events, 2) the precuneus responds strongly to verbal stimuli that refer to the present, and 3) the precuneus represents an allocentric spatial coordinate that is fixed to the external world. From these findings, we infer that the precuneus is responsible for producing our awareness of the present events by localizing each sensory signal to a relevant location in space in a relevant order in relation to the other signals.

Free Research Field

認知神経科学