Time perception and motor timing: A common cortical and subcortical basis revealed by fMRI

Though it is well known that humans perceive the temporal features of the e nvironment incessantly, the brain mechanisms underlying temporal processing are relatively unexplored. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used in this study to identify brain activations during sustained perceptual ana lysis of auditorally and visually presented temporal patterns (rhythms). Ou r findings show that the neural network supporting time perception involves the same brain areas that are responsible for the temporal planning and co ordination of movements. These results indicate that time perception and mo tor timing rely on similar cerebral structures. (C) 2000 Academic Press.