Researchers have developed a new model of how the brain tells time, which challenges the commonly quoted theory of an internal clock generating and counting regular fixed moments.
The scientists from the University of California, Los Angeles, indicate that a sequence of physical alterations to the brain’s cells help it track the passage of time.
Like a pebble in a lake
"If you toss a pebble into a lake, the ripples of water created by the pebble’s impact act like a signature of the pebble’s entry time. The farther the ripples travel, the more time has passed," Dean Buonomano, associate professor of neurobiology and psychiatry at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, stated in a prepared statement.
"We suggest that a similar process occurs in the human brain that allows it to track time. Each time the brain processes a sensory event, such as a sound or flash of light, it activates a cascade of reactions between brain cells and their connections. Each reaction leaves a signature making it possible for the brain-cell network to encode time," said Buonomano, who is also a member of UCLA’s Brain Research Institute.
Using a computer model, the investigators showed that this kind of network could be able to tell time. Their new model is described in an article in the February 1 issue of the journal Neuron.
"The value of this study lies in understanding how the brain really operates. A lot of complex human behaviors, from understanding speech to playing catch to performing music, rely on the brain’s ability to tell time precisely. But still, no one knows how the brain does it," Buonomano explained.
