Warren H Meck, Professor

Warren H Meck

Professor
PhD, Brown University, 1982
mailing address: ** Center for Behavioral Neuroscience and Genomics ** 572 Research Drive, GSRB II, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708
email:
phone: 919-660-5765

research interests | publications

Research Summary:
 Research interests include the neuroanatomical and neuropharmacological basis of timing and time perception in the seconds-to-minutes range. This work is related to the development of the striatal beat-frequency model of interval timing as well as mode-control models of temporal integration and attentional time-sharing in humans and other animals. Current work focuses on the use of molecular and ensemble-recording techniques designed to identify the basic properties of interval timing and decision making in cortical-striatal circuits as well as fMRI to examine temporal processing deficits in selected clinical populations (e.g., Parkinson's disease and schizophrenia). A second line of research uses animal models to focus on developmental periods of dietary choline sensitivity that provide an ontogenetic mechanism for regulating memory capacity and precision in adulthood as well as inoculation against age-related impairments in spatial and temporal cognition.

Representative Publications:   (More Publications)

  1. Brannon, E.M., Libertus, M.E., Meck, W.H., & Woldorff, M.G. (2008). Electrophysiological measures of time processing in infant and adult brains: Weber’s law holds. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 20, 193-203.
  2. Cheng, R.K., Williams, C.L., & Meck, W.H. (2008). Oscillatory bands, neuronal synchrony and hippocampal function: Implications of the effects of prenatal choline supplementation for sleep-dependent memory consolidation. Brain Research, 1237, 176-194.
  3. Meck, W.H., Penney, T.B., & Pouthas, V. (2008). Cortico-striatal representation of time in animals and humans. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 18, 145-152.
  4. Meck, W.H., Williams, C.L., Cermak, J.M., & Blusztajn, J.K. (2008). Developmental periods of choline sensitivity provide an ontogenetic mechanism for regulating memory capacity and age-related dementia. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience, 1:7. (doi:10.3389/neuro.07.007.2007).
  5. Penney, T.B., Gibbon, J., & Meck, W.H. (2008). Categorical scaling of duration bisection in pigeons (Columba livia), mice (Mus musculus), and humans (homo sapiens). Psychological Science, 19, 1102-1108.
  6. Williamson, L.L., Cheng, R.K., Etchegaray, M., Meck, W.H. (2008). “Speed” warps time: Methamphetamine’s interactive roles in drug abuse, habit formation, and the biological clocks of circadian and interval timing. Current Drug Abuse Reviews, 1, 203-212.
  7. Cheng, R.K., Hakak, O.L., & Meck, W.H. (2007). Habit formation and the loss of control of an internal clock: Inverse relationship between the level of baseline training and the clock-speed enhancing effects of methamphetamine. Psychopharmacology, 193, 351-362.
  8. Droit-Volet, S., & Meck, W.H. (2007). How emotions colour our perception of time. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 11, 504-513.
  9. Meck, W.H., & MacDonald, C.J. (2007). Amygdala inactivation reverses fear’s ability to impair divided attention and make time still. Behavioral Neuroscience, 121, 707-720.
  10. Matell, M.S., Bateson, M., & Meck, W.H. (2006). Single-trials analyses demonstrate that increases in clock speed contribute to the methamphetamine-induced horizontal shifts in peak-interval timing functions. Psychopharmacology, 188, 201-212.
  11. Meck, W.H. (2006). Neuroanatomical localization of an internal clock: A functional link between mesolimbic, nigrostriatal, and mesocortical dopaminergic systems. Brain Research, 1108, 93-107.
  12. Buhusi, C.V., & Meck, W.H. (2005). What makes us tick? Functional and neural mechanisms of interval timing. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 6, 755-765.