Neuronal populations across the cortex underlie discrete, categorical, and subjective representations of visual durations.
Overview
Abstract
The neural processing of subsecond durations recruits a wide network of areas. Although unimodal tuning has been shown in many of these regions, its role and link to perception remain unclear. Here, we used 7T functional MRI while participants performed a visual duration categorization task to characterize unimodal responses along the cortical hierarchy. We found topographically organized neuronal populations tuned to all presented durations in parietal and premotor cortices, and in the caudal supplementary motor area (SMA). In contrast, rostral SMA, inferior frontal cortex, and anterior insula showed neuronal preferences centered around the mean duration, which correlated with the boundary duration participants employed in the task. These differences suggest specialized roles of duration tuning across cortical regions —from discrete to categorical and subjective duration representations. Finally, correlations of neuronal preferences across areas highlighted a hierarchical organization of duration tuning. Together, our findings provide a mechanistic framework for duration perception in vision.
Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.
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Data
Datasets cited
- doi:10.17605, at the source; found in the text, “How duration preferences change along the…”
- osf:2tequ, at OSF; found in the text, “Results”
Data Availability
The data that support the findings of this study are available on OSF at the following link: https://
Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.
Versions
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Version 1, 30 September 2026: the first record
Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, issue, pages, dates, 3 authors, 13 MeSH terms, 2 funders, 106 references, 8 RRIDs.
Cite
This paper
Centanino, V., Fortunato, G., & Bueti, D. (2026). Neuronal populations across the cortex underlie discrete, categorical, and subjective representations of visual durations. PLoS biology, 24(3), e3003704. https://
BibTeX
@article{centanino2026ne
author = {Centanino, Valeria and Fortunato, Gianfranco and Bueti, Domenica},
title = {{Neuronal populations across the cortex underlie discrete, categorical, and subjective representations of visual durations}},
journal = {PLoS biology},
year = {2026},
month = mar,
volume = {24},
number = {3},
pages = {e3003704},
publisher = {PLOS},
issn = {1544-9173},
doi = {10.1371/
url = {https://
pmid = {41886464},
pmcid = {PMC13020800}
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
AU - Centanino, Valeria
AU - Fortunato, Gianfranco
AU - Bueti, Domenica
TI - Neuronal populations across the cortex underlie discrete, categorical, and subjective representations of visual durations
T2 - PLoS biology
J2 - PLoS Biol
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/
VL - 24
IS - 3
SP - e3003704
SN - 1544-9173
PB - PLOS
DO - 10.1371/
UR - https://
LA - en
ER -
CSL-JSON
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