Is time reproduction sensitive to sensory modalities?

Abstract

To examine the influence of sensory modality on time reproduction, we investigated the location of the indifference interval in the visual and auditory modalities with two ranges of duration (1–5.5 s and 1–10 s). Results showed that in the visual modality, the location of the indifference interval did not shift as a function of duration range and over trials: It was located around 3 s. In the auditory modality, it varied with the duration range: It was also located around 3 s for the first trials and progressively shifted to the mean of both tested ranges. A common mechanism was thus implied in the two modalities, intervals below and above 3 s being differentially processed but with auditory durations, a dynamic process superimposed to this supramodal mechanism. These explanations based on the differential properties of sensory memories and on learning mechanisms taking place during the task are discussed in light of time perception models.

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Laurent Hugueville for his help on protocol design and to Simone Dalla Bella and to Jay Dowling for their helpful comments on previous version of the manuscript. We thank the anonymous reviewers for their insightful suggestions. This study was supported by the ACI “Neurosciences Intégratives et Computationnelles” of the French Ministry of Research (grant no. 022399). Marion Noulhiane was funded by a PhD fellowship from the Regional Council of Nord-Pas-de-Calais (France) and by the French League Against Epilepsy (Novartis).