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Science 5 March 2004:
Vol. 303. no. 5663, pp. 1506 - 1508
DOI: 10.1126/science.1091573
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Reports

Functional Anatomy of the Attentional Modulation of Time Estimation

Jennifer T. Coull,1* Franck Vidal,1,2 Bruno Nazarian,3 Francoise Macar1

Attention modulates our subjective perception of time. The less we attend to an event's duration, the shorter it seems to last. Attention to time or color stimulus attributes was modulated parametrically in an event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging study. Linear increases in task performance were accompanied by corresponding increases in brain activity. Increasing attention to time selectively increased activity in a corticostriatal network, including pre–supplementary motor area and right frontal operculum. Increasing attention to color selectively increased activity in area V4. By identifying areas whose activity was specifically modulated by attention to time, we have defined the core neuroanatomical substrates of timing behavior.

1 Laboratoire de Neurobiologie de la Cognition, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), 31 Chemin Joseph-Aiguier, 13402 Marseille Cedex 20, France.
2 Institut de Médicine Navale du Service de Santé des Armées (IMNSSA), Toulon, France.
3 Centre d'IRM Fonctionnelle Cérébrale, CHU Timone, 264 rue saint-Pierre, 13385 Marseille Cedex 05, France.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: jcoull{at}lnf.cnrs-mrs.fr

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