Abstract
The duration of a flickering stimulus is often overestimated compared with that of a static stimulus. Studies have suggested that neural entrainments induced by the flickering stimulus play a role in this flicker-induced time dilation. However, the way in which neural entrainments modulate the perception of duration remains unclear. To investigate the neural basis of flicker-induced time dilation, we obtained electroencephalography (EEG) measurements during a duration reproduction task. In the experiment, subjects observed a colored target stimulus, which was either flickering at 10 Hz or constantly illuminated. The subjects were asked to observe the target and then reproduce either the duration (duration condition) or color (color condition) of the target. In the reproduction phase, color of the disc gradually changed during the button press. In the duration condition, the subjects reproduced the duration of the target, while in the color condition, the subjects reproduced the color of the target. The results showed that (1) flickering target stimulus induced time dilation, and larger time dilation was associated with larger amplitude of neural entrainments induced by the flickering target. (2) In the reproduction phase, during which only constantly illuminated stimulus was presented, neural activity at around alpha frequency increased when the subjects reproduced the duration of the flickering target. (3) This increase in neural activity at around alpha frequency differed between the duration and color conditions. The results indicate that duration information is coded by oscillatory neural activities, and changing the oscillatory frequencies modulate the perceived duration. The increased power of the flickering frequency during the reproduction phase suggests that the oscillatory activities may be present during memory retrieval.
Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2018