Papers Published

1. Matell, MS; Meck, WH; Nicolelis, MAL, Interval timing and the encoding of signal duration by ensembles of cortical and striatal neurons., Behavioral Neuroscience, vol. 117 no. 4 (August, 2003), pp. 760-773 [12931961], [doi] .
   (last updated on 2023/06/01)

   Abstract:
   This study investigated the firing patterns of striatal and cortical neurons in rats in a temporal generalization task. Striatal and cortical ensembles were recorded in rats trained to lever press at 2 possible criterion durations (10 s or 40 s from tone onset). Twenty-two percent of striatal and 15% of cortical cells had temporally specific modulations in their firing rate, firing at a significantly different rate around 10 s compared with 40 s. On 80% of trials, a post hoc analysis of the trial-by-trial consistency of the firing rates of an ensemble of neurons predicted whether a spike train came from a time window around 10 s versus around 40 s. Results suggest that striatal and cortical neurons encode specific durations in their firing rate and thereby serve as components of a neural circuit used to represent duration.

   Keywords:
   Animals • Cerebral Cortex • Conditioning, Operant • Corpus Striatum • Discrimination Learning* • Male • Neurons • Rats • Rats, Sprague-Dawley • Time Perception* • physiology • physiology*