How does a tennis prodigy like Jannik Sinner hit the ball with such impeccable timing and precision? The answer lies not only in physical skill but deeply embedded neurological processes that govern our perception of time. Time, an elusive and subjective experience that shapes our interactions with the world, depends on complex neuronal activity spread across various regions of the brain. Recent research published in the prestigious journal PLOS Biology by Valeria Centanino, Gianfranco Fortunato, and Domenica Bueti offers groundbreaking insights into how the human brain constructs the perception of temporal intervals, advancing our understanding of one of the most fundamental elements of cognition.
Time perception, as it turns out, is not a monolithic process localized to a single brain area; rather, it unfolds through a cascade of neural computations occurring at multiple levels of cortical processing. Starting with the arrival of visual input, such as the sight of an approaching tennis ball, the neural representation of its duration progresses through increasingly sophisticated stages. Initial processing begins in the occipital visual cortex, where raw temporal features of the stimulus are encoded. This early encoding involves gradual, monotonic increases in neural activity proportional to the stimulus duration, laying the groundwork for a neural “timestamp” of external events.
From these primary visual areas, temporal information is relayed to the parietal and premotor cortices. At this intermediate stage, neural activation patterns shift from simple duration encoding to more selective, unimodal representations. Distinct populations of neurons in these regions demonstrate preferential sensitivity to discrete temporal intervals, essentially categorizing the span of time into identifiable segments. This selective tuning allows the brain to effectively “read out” temporal information, converting sensory input into meaningful temporal categories that can guide behavior.
The journey of temporal processing culminates in higher-order brain regions, notably the frontal cortex and anterior insula, which integrate the encoded and categorized durations into subjective experiences of time. These areas are implicated in the cognitive and emotional interpretation of temporal intervals, shaping how time is internally perceived and categorized. This final neural transformation explains why two people may experience the passage of identical intervals differently, and why personal context or mental state can distort our perception of time.
The PLOS Biology study employed high-field functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in a cohort of healthy volunteers performing time estimation tasks involving visual stimuli. The experimental design allowed the researchers to map the spatial and temporal dynamics of cortical activity related to time perception with unprecedented resolution. Through this neuroimaging approach, the team delineated the neural substrates underpinning three distinct representations of visual duration: discrete encoding, categorical readout, and subjective construction.
Beyond localizing brain regions activated by temporal stimuli, the research offers a mechanistic model describing the hierarchical and distributed nature of time processing across the cerebral cortex. This model challenges previous assumptions of a centralized internal clock and proposes a network-based framework where temporal perception results from successive transformations across interconnected neural populations. Each stage adds interpretative layers, transforming raw sensory timing into subjective meaning and actionable information.
Understanding how the brain constructs time has profound implications not only for cognitive neuroscience but also for clinical contexts. Disorders such as schizophrenia, Parkinson’s disease, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) frequently involve impairments in time perception, contributing to difficulties in motor coordination, attention, and decision-making. Insights from this study could pave the way for targeted therapies aimed at recalibrating dysfunctional temporal processing circuits, potentially improving symptoms and enhancing quality of life.
Moreover, the study offers intriguing ramifications for our everyday experiences. The subjective elasticity of time—how minutes sometimes feel like hours or vice versa—may be rooted in fluctuations within the frontal cortex and insular regions. These areas are known to integrate cognitive and affective signals, suggesting that emotions, attention, and context dynamically shape our internal timeline. This nuanced understanding opens new avenues for exploring mindfulness, meditation, and other practices that alter subjective temporality.
In the realm of sports and high-performance activities, such as tennis, the ability to synchronize actions perfectly with an external stimulus relying on precise temporal judgments gains new meaning. The neural mechanisms elucidated by this research highlight how athletes’ brains rapidly convert visual durations of moving objects into finely tuned motor plans. Such knowledge could inform training regimens that enhance temporal acuity, reaction speed, and ultimately performance.
The study’s integration of advanced neuroimaging and behavioral assessments sets a new benchmark in time perception research. By capturing discrete neuronal population responses across multiple cortical areas, it provides a granularity that bridges cellular-level neuroscience with macroscopic brain function. This level of detail fosters a deeper appreciation of how the brain’s temporal architecture maps onto subjective experience.
Future research inspired by these findings may extend beyond visual durations to explore timing across other sensory modalities, such as auditory or tactile stimuli. Additionally, probing how developmental stages and aging affect these cortical processing stages could reveal how temporal perception evolves across the lifespan. Such investigations hold promise for unveiling universal principles of neural timing and their deviations in pathological conditions.
In conclusion, this pioneering work by Centanino, Fortunato, and Bueti elucidates the cortical choreography that allows our brains to perceive time not as a continuous flow but as a series of discrete, encoded, and subjectively interpreted durations. This advance dissolves the notion of a singular internal clock, replacing it with a sophisticated, hierarchical process distributed throughout the brain. As we continue to unravel the neural fabric of temporal perception, we gain insight into both everyday cognition and extraordinary human feats, from sports to music to the very structure of conscious experience.
Subject of Research: People
Article Title: Neuronal populations across the cortex underlie discrete, categorical, and subjective representations of visual durations
News Publication Date: 26-Mar-2026
Web References: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003704
Keywords: Cognitive neuroscience, time perception, visual durations, cortical processing, functional MRI, subjective experience, temporal encoding
