The role of posterior parietal cortices on prismatic adaptation effects on the representation of time intervals

Abstract

Previous studies provided evidence of an ascending left-to-right spatial representation of time durations by using a technique affecting high levels of spatial cognition, i.e. prismatic adaptation (PA). Indeed, PA that induced a leftward aftereffect distorted time representation toward an underestimation, while PA that induced a rightward aftereffect distorted time representation toward an overestimation. The present study advances previous findings on the effects of PA on time by investigating the neural basis subtending these effects. We focused on the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) since it is involved in the PA procedure and also in the formulation of the spatial representation of time. We conducted two experiments where right-handed healthy adults were submitted to a time task, before and after PA, that could induce a leftward or rightward aftereffect. Repetitive TMS (rTMS) was used to inhibit the left or right PPC before PA administration. In a first experiment the time task consisted of reproducing an half duration (time bisection task) by pressing a key and the participants responded and adapted to prisms with their right hand. In a second experiment the time task consisted of reproducing a whole duration (time reproduction task) by pressing a key and the participants responded and adapted to prisms with their left hand. We found an abolition of the effects of PA on time when rTMS was delivered on the left and not on the right PPC, regardless of the task and moreover, when the participants responded and adapted with the right hand and also with the left hand. This result suggests a direct involvement of the left PPC in the interactive process, between spatial modulations induced by PA and the spatial representation of time, that does not depend on motor processes. This study provides useful results for future investigations on the neural mechanisms subtending the effects of PA on spatial representations.