Skip to main content
bioRxiv
  • Home
  • About
  • Submit
  • ALERTS / RSS
Advanced Search
New Results

Tracking temporal hazard in the human electroencephalogram using a forward encoding model

Sophie K. Herbst, Lorenz Fiedler, View ORCID ProfileJonas Obleser
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/233551
Sophie K. Herbst
1department of Psychology, University of Lübeck Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23552 Lübeck, Germany
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: sophie.herbst@uni-luebeck.de
Lorenz Fiedler
1department of Psychology, University of Lübeck Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23552 Lübeck, Germany
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Jonas Obleser
1department of Psychology, University of Lübeck Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23552 Lübeck, Germany
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Jonas Obleser
  • Abstract
  • Full Text
  • Info/History
  • Metrics
  • Preview PDF
Loading

Abstract

Human observers automatically extract temporal contingencies from the environment and predict the onset of future events. Temporal predictions are modelled by the hazard function, which describes the probability for an event to occur over time given it has not occurred yet. To test whether and how the human time-domain EEG signal tracks temporal hazard, we applied an encoding-model approach. In a pitch discrimination task, we implicitly varied the foreperiod (the interval between a cue and a target tone) to induce temporal predictability. We compared conditions in which temporal predictability was either solely driven by the passage of time (resulting in a monotonic hazard function), or was modulated to increase at intermediate foreperiods (resulting in a modulated hazard function with a peak at the intermediate foreperiod). Forward encoding models trained to predict the recorded EEG signal from different temporal hazard functions were able to distinguish between experimental conditions that differed in temporal hazard. Moreover, the supplementary motor area, a key region in timing and time perception, appears as the primary source of the tracking signal in a brain-wide search for neuroanatomical correlates of these encoding models’ response function. Our results underline the utility of the forward-encoding model to understand the neural implementation of abstract mental representations such as temporal hazard.

Significance Statement Extracting temporal predictions from sensory input allows to process future input more efficiently and to prepare responses in time. In mathematical terms, temporal predictions can be described by the hazard function, modelling the probability of an event to occur over time. Here, we show that the human EEG tracks temporal hazard in an implicit foreperiod paradigm. Forward encoding models trained to predict the recorded EEG signal from different temporal-hazard functions were able to distinguish between experimental conditions that differed in their build-up of hazard over time. These neural signatures of tracking temporal hazard converge with the extant literature on temporal processing and provide new evidence that the supplementary motor area tracks hazard under strictly implicit timing conditions.

Footnotes

  • Conflict of interest: None

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
Back to top
PreviousNext
Posted December 14, 2017.
Download PDF
Email

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv.

NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Tracking temporal hazard in the human electroencephalogram using a forward encoding model
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from bioRxiv
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the bioRxiv website.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Share
Tracking temporal hazard in the human electroencephalogram using a forward encoding model
Sophie K. Herbst, Lorenz Fiedler, Jonas Obleser
bioRxiv 233551; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/233551
Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo LinkedIn logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
Tracking temporal hazard in the human electroencephalogram using a forward encoding model
Sophie K. Herbst, Lorenz Fiedler, Jonas Obleser
bioRxiv 233551; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/233551

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Subject Area

  • Neuroscience
Subject Areas
All Articles
  • Animal Behavior and Cognition (4861)
  • Biochemistry (10811)
  • Bioengineering (8054)
  • Bioinformatics (27346)
  • Biophysics (13999)
  • Cancer Biology (11140)
  • Cell Biology (16087)
  • Clinical Trials (138)
  • Developmental Biology (8793)
  • Ecology (13307)
  • Epidemiology (2067)
  • Evolutionary Biology (17375)
  • Genetics (11694)
  • Genomics (15939)
  • Immunology (11042)
  • Microbiology (26132)
  • Molecular Biology (10669)
  • Neuroscience (56660)
  • Paleontology (420)
  • Pathology (1737)
  • Pharmacology and Toxicology (3009)
  • Physiology (4557)
  • Plant Biology (9648)
  • Scientific Communication and Education (1617)
  • Synthetic Biology (2695)
  • Systems Biology (6985)
  • Zoology (1511)