Abstract
The neural mechanisms underlying visual estimation of subsecond durations remain unknown, but perisaccadic underestimation of interflash intervals may provide a clue as to the nature of these mechanisms. Here we found that simply reducing the flash visibility, particularly the visibility of transient signals, induced similar time underestimation by human observers. Our results suggest that weak transient responses fail to trigger the proper detection of temporal asynchrony, leading to increased perception of simultaneity and apparent time compression.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$209.00 per year
only $17.42 per issue
Rent or buy this article
Prices vary by article type
from$1.95
to$39.95
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Morrone, M.C., Ross, J. & Burr, D.C. Nat. Neurosci. 8, 950–954 (2005).
Burr, D. & Morrone, C. Curr. Biol. 16, R847–R849 (2006).
Ibbotson, M.R., Crowder, N.A. & Price, N.S. Curr. Biol. 16, R834–R836 (2006).
Ibbotson, M.R., Price, N.S., Crowder, N.A., Ono, S. & Mustari, M.J. Cereb. Cortex 17, 1129–1138 (2006).
Duhamel, J.R., Colby, C.L. & Goldberg, M.E. Science 255, 90–92 (1992).
Burr, D.C., Morrone, M.C. & Ross, J. Nature 371, 511–513 (1994).
Kulikowski, J.J. & Tolhurst, D.J. J. Physiol. (Lond.) 232, 149–162 (1973).
Mauk, M.D. & Buonomano, D.V. Annu. Rev. Neurosci. 27, 307–340 (2004).
Leon, M.I. & Shadlen, M.N. Neuron 38, 317–327 (2003).
Reutimann, J., Yakovlev, V., Fusi, S. & Senn, W. J. Neurosci. 24, 3295–3303 (2004).
Treisman, M., Faulkner, A., Naish, P.L. & Brogan, D. Perception 19, 705–743 (1990).
van Santen, J.P.H. & Sperling, G. J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 2, 300–321 (1985).
Uchikawa, K. & Sato, M. J. Opt. Soc. Am. A Opt. Image Sci. Vis. 12, 661–666 (1995).
Kitazawa, S. et al. in Attention and Performance XXII (eds. Haggard, P., Kawato, M. & Rossetti, Y.) 73–97 (Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, 2007).
Nishida, S. & Johnston, A. Curr. Biol. 12, 359–368 (2002).
Acknowledgements
M.T. is supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Supplementary information
Supplementary Text and Figures
Supplementary Figures 1 and 2, Methods and Results (PDF 478 kb)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Terao, M., Watanabe, J., Yagi, A. et al. Reduction of stimulus visibility compresses apparent time intervals. Nat Neurosci 11, 541–542 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.2111
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.2111
This article is cited by
-
Underestimation in temporal numerosity judgments computationally explained by population coding model
Scientific Reports (2022)
-
Perceived visual time depends on motor preparation and direction of hand movements
Scientific Reports (2016)
-
Networks that learn the precise timing of event sequences
Journal of Computational Neuroscience (2015)
-
Time perception of visual motion is tuned by the motor representation of human actions
Scientific Reports (2013)
-
Somatotopic dominance in tactile temporal processing
Experimental Brain Research (2010)