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Romeo Z, Dolfi S, D'Amelio M, Mioni G. Duration, numerosity and length processing in healthy ageing and Parkinson's disease. Eur J Ageing 2024; 21:14. [PMID: 38656628 PMCID: PMC11043296 DOI: 10.1007/s10433-024-00807-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/10/2024] [Indexed: 04/26/2024] Open
Abstract
People constantly process temporal, numerical, and length information in everyday activities and interactions with the environment. However, it is unclear whether quantity perception changes during ageing. Previous studies have provided heterogeneous results, sometimes showing an age-related effect on a particular quantity, and other times reporting no differences between young and elderly samples. However, three dimensions were never compared within the same study. Here, we conducted two experiments with the aim of investigating the processing of duration, numerosity and length in both healthy and pathological ageing. The experimental paradigm consisted of three bisection tasks in which participants were asked to judge whether the presented stimulus (i.e. a time interval, a group of dots, or a line) was more similar to the short/few or long/many standards. The first study recruited healthy young and elderly participants, while the second recruited healthy elderly participants and patients with Parkinson's disease, a clinical condition commonly associated with temporal impairments. The results of both experiments showed that discrimination precision differed between domains in all groups, with higher precision in the numerosity task and lower sensitivity in judging duration. Furthermore, while discrimination abilities were affected in healthy elderly and, even more so, in Parkinson's disease group, no domain-specific impairments emerged. According to our research, reduced discrimination precision might be explained by an alteration of a single system for all quantities or by an age-related general cognitive decline.
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Affiliation(s)
- Z Romeo
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Via Venezia, 8, 35131, Padua, Italy.
- Neuroscience Institute, National Research Council (CNR), Padua, Italy.
| | - S Dolfi
- Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padova, Padua, Italy
| | | | - G Mioni
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Via Venezia, 8, 35131, Padua, Italy.
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2
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Houshmand Chatroudi A, Mioni G, Yotsumoto Y. On the nonlinearity of the foreperiod effect. Sci Rep 2024; 14:2780. [PMID: 38307986 PMCID: PMC10837441 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-53347-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2023] [Accepted: 01/31/2024] [Indexed: 02/04/2024] Open
Abstract
One of the frequently employed tasks within the implicit timing paradigm is the foreperiod task. The foreperiod is the time interval spanning from the presentation of a warning signal to the appearance of a target stimulus, during which reaction time trajectory follows time uncertainty. While the typical approach in analyzing foreperiod effects is based on linear approximations, the uncertainty in the estimation of time, expressed by the Weber fraction, implies a nonlinear trend. In the present study, we analyzed the variable foreperiod reaction times from a relatively large sample (n = 109). We found that the linear regression on reaction times and log-transformed reaction times poorly fitted the foreperiod data. However, a nonlinear regression based on an exponential decay function with three distinctive parameters provided the best fit. We discussed the inferential hazards of a simplistic linear approach and demonstrated how a nonlinear formulation can create new opportunities for studies in implicit timing research, which were previously impossible.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Giovanna Mioni
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Yuko Yotsumoto
- Department of Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
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3
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Teghil A, Boccia M, Di Vita A, Zazzaro G, Sepe Monti M, Trebbastoni A, Talarico G, Campanelli A, Bruno G, Guariglia C, de Lena C, D'Antonio F. Multidimensional assessment of time perception along the continuum of Alzheimer's Disease and evidence of alterations in subjective cognitive decline. Sci Rep 2023; 13:22117. [PMID: 38092802 PMCID: PMC10719320 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-49222-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2023] [Accepted: 12/05/2023] [Indexed: 12/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Timing alterations occur in Alzheimer's disease (AD), even in early stages (mild cognitive impairment, MCI). Moreover, a stage named subjective cognitive decline (SCD), in which individuals perceive a change in cognitive performance not revealed by neuropsychological tests, has been identified as a preclinical phase of AD. However, no study to date has investigated different dimensions of time processing along the continuum from physiological to pathological aging, and whether timing alterations occur in SCD. Here a sample of participants with SCD, MCI, AD and healthy controls (HC) performed tasks assessing prospective duration estimation, production, reproduction, implicit temporal learning in conditions dependent from external cues (externally-cued learning, ECL) or independent from external cues (internally-based learning, IBL), retrospective duration estimation, the subjective experience of time and the temporal collocation of events. AD patients performed worse than HC and SCD in prospective timing, and in collocating events in time. The subjective experience of time did not differ between groups. Concerning temporal learning, AD performed worse in ECL than in IBL, whereas SCD performed worse in IBL than in ECL. SCD, MCI and AD patients all showed errors greater than HC in retrospective duration estimation. Results point to implicit temporal learning in externally-cued conditions and retrospective time estimation as possible early markers of cognitive decline.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alice Teghil
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza" University of Rome, Via Dei Marsi, 78, 00185, Rome, Italy.
- Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging Unit, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy.
| | - Maddalena Boccia
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza" University of Rome, Via Dei Marsi, 78, 00185, Rome, Italy
- Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging Unit, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
| | - Antonella Di Vita
- Department of Human Neuroscience, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Giulia Zazzaro
- Department of Human Neuroscience, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Micaela Sepe Monti
- Department of Human Neuroscience, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | | | | | | | - Giuseppe Bruno
- Department of Human Neuroscience, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Cecilia Guariglia
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza" University of Rome, Via Dei Marsi, 78, 00185, Rome, Italy
- Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging Unit, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
| | - Carlo de Lena
- Department of Human Neuroscience, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Fabrizia D'Antonio
- Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging Unit, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
- Department of Human Neuroscience, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
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4
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Hinault T, D'Argembeau A, Bowler DM, La Corte V, Desaunay P, Provasi J, Platel H, Tran The J, Charretier L, Giersch A, Droit-Volet S. Time processing in neurological and psychiatric conditions. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2023; 154:105430. [PMID: 37871780 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105430] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2023] [Revised: 10/18/2023] [Accepted: 10/19/2023] [Indexed: 10/25/2023]
Abstract
A central question in understanding cognition and pathology-related cognitive changes is how we process time. However, time processing difficulties across several neurological and psychiatric conditions remain seldom investigated. The aim of this review is to develop a unifying taxonomy of time processing, and a neuropsychological perspective on temporal difficulties. Four main temporal judgments are discussed: duration processing, simultaneity and synchrony, passage of time, and mental time travel. We present an integrated theoretical framework of timing difficulties across psychiatric and neurological conditions based on selected patient populations. This framework provides new mechanistic insights on both (a) the processes involved in each temporal judgement, and (b) temporal difficulties across pathologies. By identifying underlying transdiagnostic time-processing mechanisms, this framework opens fruitful avenues for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Hinault
- Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, PSL Research University, EPHE, INSERM, U1077, CHU de Caen, GIP Cyceron, Neuropsychologie et Imagerie de la Mémoire Humaine, 14032 Caen, France.
| | - Arnaud D'Argembeau
- Psychology and Neuroscience of Cognition Research Unit, University of Liège, F.R.S-FNRS, 4000 Liège, Belgium
| | - Dermot M Bowler
- Autism Research Group, City, University of London, EC1V 0HB London, United Kingdom
| | - Valentina La Corte
- Laboratoire Mémoire, Cerveau et Cognition (MC2Lab), UR 7536, Université de Paris cité, 92774 Boulogne-Billancourt, France; Institut Universitaire de France, 75231 Paris, France
| | - Pierre Desaunay
- Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, PSL Research University, EPHE, INSERM, U1077, CHU de Caen, GIP Cyceron, Neuropsychologie et Imagerie de la Mémoire Humaine, 14032 Caen, France; Service de Psychiatrie de l'enfant et de l'adolescent, CHU de Caen, 14000 Caen, France
| | - Joelle Provasi
- CHArt laboratory (Human and Artificial Cognition), EPHE-PSL, 75014 Paris, France
| | - Hervé Platel
- Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, PSL Research University, EPHE, INSERM, U1077, CHU de Caen, GIP Cyceron, Neuropsychologie et Imagerie de la Mémoire Humaine, 14032 Caen, France
| | - Jessica Tran The
- Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, PSL Research University, EPHE, INSERM, U1077, CHU de Caen, GIP Cyceron, Neuropsychologie et Imagerie de la Mémoire Humaine, 14032 Caen, France
| | - Laura Charretier
- Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, PSL Research University, EPHE, INSERM, U1077, CHU de Caen, GIP Cyceron, Neuropsychologie et Imagerie de la Mémoire Humaine, 14032 Caen, France
| | - Anne Giersch
- Cognitive Neuropsychology and Pathophysiology of Schizophrenia Laboratory, National Institute of Health and Medical Research, University of Strasbourg, 67081 Strasbourg, France
| | - Sylvie Droit-Volet
- Université Clermont Auvergne, LAPSCO, CNRS, UMR 6024, 60032 Clermont-Ferrand, France
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5
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Cantarella G, Vianello G, Vezzadini G, Frassinetti F, Ciaramelli E, Candini M. Time bisection and reproduction: Evidence for a slowdown of the internal clock in right brain damaged patients. Cortex 2023; 167:303-317. [PMID: 37595392 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2023.05.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2022] [Revised: 03/31/2023] [Accepted: 05/24/2023] [Indexed: 08/20/2023]
Abstract
Previous studies show that the right hemisphere is involved in time processing, and that damage to the right hemisphere is associated with a tendency to perceive time intervals as shorter than they are, and to reproduce time intervals as longer than they are. Whether time processing deficits following right hemisphere damage are related and what is their neurocognitive basis is unclear. In this study, right brain damaged (RBD) patients, left brain damaged (LBD) patients, and healthy controls underwent a time bisection task and a time reproduction task involving time intervals varying between each other by milliseconds (short durations) or seconds (long durations). The results show that in the time bisection task RBD patients underestimated time intervals compared to LBD patients and healthy controls, while they reproduced time intervals as longer than they are. Time underestimation and over-reproduction in RBD patients applied to short but not long time intervals, and were correlated. Voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping (VLSM) showed that time underestimation was associated with lesions to a right cortico-subcortical network involving the insula and inferior frontal gyrus. A small portion of this network was also associated with time over-reproduction. Our findings are consistent with a slowdown of an 'internal clock' timing mechanism following right brain damage, which likely underlies both the underestimation and the over-reproduction of time intervals, and their (overlapping) neural bases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giovanni Cantarella
- Department of Psychology 'Renzo Canestrari', University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy; Center for Studies and Research of Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Bologna, Cesena, Italy
| | - Greta Vianello
- Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, Castel Goffredo, Italy
| | | | - Francesca Frassinetti
- Department of Psychology 'Renzo Canestrari', University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy; Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, Castel Goffredo, Italy
| | - Elisa Ciaramelli
- Department of Psychology 'Renzo Canestrari', University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy; Center for Studies and Research of Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Bologna, Cesena, Italy.
| | - Michela Candini
- Department of Psychology 'Renzo Canestrari', University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
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6
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Buzi G, Eustache F, D'Argembeau A, Hinault T. The role of depressive symptoms in the interplay between aging and temporal processing. Sci Rep 2023; 13:11375. [PMID: 37452125 PMCID: PMC10349066 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-38500-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2023] [Accepted: 07/10/2023] [Indexed: 07/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Temporal processing, the ability to mentally represent and process the dynamical unfolding of events over time, is a fundamental feature of cognition that evolves with advancing age. Aging has indeed been associated with slower and more variable performance in timing tasks. However, the role of depressive symptoms in age-related changes in temporal processing remains to be investigated. Therefore, the present work aims to shed light on the link between temporal processing and depressive symptoms, which are frequent with advancing age. We relied on the multicentric "Blursday Project" database, providing measures of temporal processing together with questionnaires investigating psychological wellbeing. Results reveal that aging influences several timing abilities, from the reproduction of short time intervals to verbal estimations of longer temporal distances. Furthermore, the slowing down of felt passage of time regarding the last few days with age was fully mediated by the intensity of depressive symptoms. Overall, these findings suggest that depressive symptoms may play a pivotal role in age-related temporal processing changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giulia Buzi
- Inserm, U1077, EPHE, UNICAEN, Normandie Université, PSL Université Paris, CHU de Caen, GIP Cyceron, Neuropsychologie et Imagerie de la Mémoire Humaine (NIMH), 2, Rue des Rochambelles, 14000, Caen, France
| | - Francis Eustache
- Inserm, U1077, EPHE, UNICAEN, Normandie Université, PSL Université Paris, CHU de Caen, GIP Cyceron, Neuropsychologie et Imagerie de la Mémoire Humaine (NIMH), 2, Rue des Rochambelles, 14000, Caen, France
| | - Arnaud D'Argembeau
- Department of Psychology, Psychology and Neuroscience of Cognition Research Unit, University of Liège, Place des Orateurs 1 (B33), 4000, Liège, Belgium
| | - Thomas Hinault
- Inserm, U1077, EPHE, UNICAEN, Normandie Université, PSL Université Paris, CHU de Caen, GIP Cyceron, Neuropsychologie et Imagerie de la Mémoire Humaine (NIMH), 2, Rue des Rochambelles, 14000, Caen, France.
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7
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Gallego Hiroyasu EM, Laje R, Nomura K, Spiousas I, Hayashi MJ, Yotsumoto Y. Longitudinal analysis of social isolation effects on finger tapping in the Blursday database. Sci Rep 2023; 13:11277. [PMID: 37438397 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-38488-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2023] [Accepted: 07/09/2023] [Indexed: 07/14/2023] Open
Abstract
The Blursday database is a collection of data obtained online from a longitudinal study where participants were asked to participate in several behavioral tasks and questionnaires during the COVID-19 pandemic from their homes. In this study, we analyzed the published data to explore (1) the longitudinal changes in temporal cognition observed from the data collected in the home-based setting (2), the effects of the voluntary quarantine measures implemented in Japan on temporal cognition, (3) whether the participant's temporal cognition is altered by the change in their psychological state or their cognitive abilities, and (4) whether the effects of the quarantine measures depend on the age of the individual. Results show that confinement measures were good predictors for the performance in both spontaneous finger-tapping task and paced finger-tapping task, though these were dependent on the age of the participant. In addition, cognitive scores were good predictors of the performance in the paced finger-tapping task but not the spontaneous finger-tapping task. Overall, this study provides evidence suggesting changes in both psychological, cognitive, and temporal cognition during the pandemic on the Japanese population despite its voluntary measures to deal with the new situation.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Rodrigo Laje
- Department of Science and Technology, University of Quilmes, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Keishi Nomura
- Department of Integrated Educational Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Ignacio Spiousas
- Department of Science and Technology, University of Quilmes, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Masamichi J Hayashi
- Center for Information and Neural Networks (CiNet), Advanced ICT Research Institute, National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, Suita, Japan
- Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, Suita, Japan
| | - Yuko Yotsumoto
- Department of Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
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Capizzi M, Visalli A, Wiener M, Mioni G. The contribution of the supplementary motor area to explicit and implicit timing: A high-definition transcranial Random Noise Stimulation (HD-tRNS) study. Behav Brain Res 2023; 445:114383. [PMID: 36878287 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2023.114383] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2022] [Revised: 02/13/2023] [Accepted: 03/03/2023] [Indexed: 03/07/2023]
Abstract
It is becoming increasingly accepted that timing tasks, and underlying temporal processes, can be partitioned on the basis of whether they require an explicit or implicit temporal judgement. Most neuroimaging studies of timing associated explicit timing tasks with activation of the supplementary motor area (SMA). However, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) studies perturbing SMA functioning across explicit timing tasks have generally reported null effects, thus failing to causally link SMA to explicit timing. The present study probed the involvement of SMA in both explicit and implicit timing tasks within a single experiment and using High-Definition transcranial Random Noise Stimulation (HD-tRNS), a previously less used technique in studies of the SMA. Participants performed two tasks that comprised the same stimulus presentation but differed in the received task instructions, which might or might not require explicit temporal judgments. Results showed a significant HD-tRNS-induced shift of perceived durations (i.e., overestimation) in the explicit timing task, whereas there was no modulation of implicit timing by HD-tRNS. Overall, these results provide initial non-invasive brain stimulation evidence on the contribution of the SMA to explicit and implicit timing tasks.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Capizzi
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Granada, Spain; Mind, Brain and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC), University of Granada, Spain.
| | - A Visalli
- IRCCS San Camillo Hospital, Venice Lido, Italy
| | - M Wiener
- George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA
| | - G Mioni
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Italy.
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