Researchers at the Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience have discovered a network of brain cells that expresses our sense of time within experiences and memories. The area of the brain where time is experienced is located right next to the area that codes for space.
\nClocks are devices created by humans to measure time. By social contract, we agree to coordinate our own activities according to clock time. Nevertheless, your brain does not perceive the duration in time with the standardized units of minutes and hours on your wristwatch. The signature of time in our experiences and memories belongs to a different kind of temporality altogether. Over the course of evolution, living organisms, including humans, have developed multiple biological clocks to help us keep track of time. What separates the brain\u2019s various timekeepers is not only the scale of time that is measured, but also the phenomena the neural clocks are tuned to.
\nSome timekeepers are set by external processes, like the circadian clock that is tuned to the rise and fall of daylight. This clock helps organisms adapt to the rhythms of a day. Other timekeepers are set by phenomena of more intrinsic origins, like the hippocampal time cells that form a domino-like chain signal that tracks time spans up to 10 seconds precisely. Today we know a great deal about the brain\u2019s mechanisms for measuring small timescales like seconds. Little is known, however, about the timescale the brain uses to record our experiences and memories, which can last anywhere from seconds to minutes to hours.<\/p>\n
A Neural Clock for Experienced Time
\nA neural clock that keeps track of time during experiences is precisely what Albert Tsao and his colleagues at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology\u2019s Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience believe they have discovered. By recording from a population of brain cells the researchers identified a strong time-coding signal deep inside the brain. \u201cOur study reveals how the brain makes sense of time as an event is experienced,\u201d says Tsao. \u201cThe network does not explicitly encode time. What we measure is rather a subjective time derived from the ongoing flow of experience.\u201d
\n\u201cThis network provides timestamps to events and keeps track of the order of events within an experience,\u201dsays Professor Moser. The neural clock operates by organizing the flow of our experiences into an orderly sequence of events. This activity gives rise to the brain\u2019s clock for subjective time. Experience, and the succession of events within experience, are thus the substance of which subjective time is generated and measured by the brain.
\nTime, Space and Memory in the Brain
\n\u201cToday, we have a fairly good understanding of the way our brains process space, whereas our knowledge of time is less coherent,\u201d Professor Moser says. \u201cSpace in the brain is relatively easy to investigate. It consists of specialized cell types that are dedicated to specific functions. Together they constitute the nuts and bolts of the system,\u201d he says. In 2005, May-Britt and Edvard Moser discovered grid cells, which map our environment at different scales by dividing space into hexagonal units. In 2014, the Mosers shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with their colleague and mentor John O\u2019Keefe at University College London for their discoveries of cells that constitute the brain\u2019s positioning system.<\/p>\n
In 2007, inspired by the Mosers\u2019 discovery of spatially coding grid cells, then-Kavli Institute PhD candidate Albert Tsao set out to crack the code of what was happening in the enigmatic lateral entorhinal cortex (LEC). This area of the brain is right next to the medial entorhinal cortex (MEC), where his supervisors, the Mosers, had discovered grid cells. \u201cI was hoping to find a similar key operating cell that would reveal the functional identity of this neural network\u201d, Tsao says. The task proved to be a time-consuming project. \u00a0\u201cThere didn\u2019t seem to be a pattern to the activity of these cells. The signal changed all the time, says Professor Moser.<\/p>\n
It was only in the last couple of years that the researchers began to suspect that the signal was indeed changing\u00a0with\u00a0time. Suddenly the recoded data started to make sense. \u201cTime is a non-equilibrial process. It is always unique and changing,\u201d Professor Moser says. \u201cIf this network was indeed coding for time, the signal would have to change\u00a0with\u00a0time in order to record experiences as unique memories.\u201d The Mosers needed only to decode the signal of one single grid cell to discover how space is encoded in the in the medial entorhinal cortex. Decoding time in the lateral entorhinal cortex proved to be a more complex task. It was only when looking at activity from hundreds of cells that Tsao and his colleagues were able to see that the signal encoded time.<\/p>\n
The Shape of Time
\nThe structure of time has long been a disputed topic by philosophers and physicists alike. What can the newly discovered brain\u2019s mechanism for episodic time tell us about how we perceive time? Is our perception of time linear resembling a flowing river, or cyclical like a wheel or a helix?
\nData from the Kavli study suggest both are correct, and that the signal in the time-coding network can take on many forms depending on the experience. In 2016, PhD candidate J\u00f8rgen Sugar joined the Kavli project to perform a new set of experiments that would test the hypothesis that the LEC network coded for episodic time. Professor Moser says the study shows that by changing the activities you engage in, the content of your experience, you can actually change the course of the time-signal in LEC and thus the way you perceive time.<\/p>\n
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Source: https:\/\/geminiresearchnews.com\/2018\/08\/how-your-brain-experiences-time\/<\/strong><\/em> Researchers at the Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience have discovered a network of brain cells that expresses our sense of time within experiences and memories. The area of the brain where time is experienced is located right next to the area that codes for space….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28612,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[88],"tags":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1528.jpg?fit=900%2C609&ssl=1","rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1528.jpg?fit=900%2C609&ssl=1",900,609,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1528.jpg",900,609,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1528.jpg",900,609,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1528.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1528.jpg?fit=300%2C203&ssl=1",300,203,true],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1528.jpg?fit=900%2C609&ssl=1",900,609,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1528.jpg?fit=900%2C609&ssl=1",900,609,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1528.jpg?fit=900%2C609&ssl=1",900,609,true],"portfolio-square":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1528.jpg?resize=570%2C570&ssl=1",570,570,true],"portfolio-portrait":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1528.jpg?resize=600%2C609&ssl=1",600,609,true],"portfolio-landscape":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1528.jpg?resize=800%2C600&ssl=1",800,600,true],"menu-featured-post":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1528.jpg?resize=345%2C198&ssl=1",345,198,true],"qode-carousel_slider":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1528.jpg?resize=400%2C260&ssl=1",400,260,true],"portfolio_slider":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1528.jpg?resize=500%2C380&ssl=1",500,380,true],"portfolio_masonry_regular":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1528.jpg?resize=500%2C500&ssl=1",500,500,true],"portfolio_masonry_wide":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1528.jpg?resize=900%2C500&ssl=1",900,500,true],"portfolio_masonry_tall":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1528.jpg?resize=500%2C609&ssl=1",500,609,true],"portfolio_masonry_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1528.jpg?resize=900%2C609&ssl=1",900,609,true],"portfolio_masonry_with_space":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1528.jpg?fit=700%2C474&ssl=1",700,474,true],"latest_post_boxes":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1528.jpg?resize=539%2C303&ssl=1",539,303,true],"woocommerce_thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1528.jpg?resize=300%2C300&ssl=1",300,300,true],"woocommerce_single":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1528.jpg?fit=600%2C406&ssl=1",600,406,true],"woocommerce_gallery_thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/post-1528.jpg?resize=100%2C100&ssl=1",100,100,true]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/www.lecturesbureau.gr\/1\/author\/admin\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Science<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Researchers at the Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience have discovered a network of brain cells that expresses our sense of time within experiences and memories. 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\nRita Elmkvist Nilsen\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"