All parts of the brain › Functions › Sense of time

What part of the brain perceives time?

There is no single clock: judging how long something lasts uses a distributed network. [1][2][3]

The 3D brain needs JavaScript. The list of parts still says what each one does for the sense of time.

Lit: whole parts; region borders not drawn.

Slice

All 7 parts are lit together. Drag to turn, pinch or scroll to zoom, tap a part on the brain or a name in the list to focus it; .

In a meta-analysis of 41 imaging studies, the supplementary motor area on the superior frontal gyrus and the right inferior frontal gyrus were the only structures active in every kind of timing task. Spans under a second recruit the basal ganglia and cerebellum more; spans over a second the supplementary motor area and prefrontal cortex. The dorsal striatum (putamen and caudate) with its dopamine supply seems the most crucial part, and one proposal places the felt passing of time in the anterior insula. [1][2][3]

The supplementary motor area is a region on a lit gyrus, not a separate shape. The 3D model draws only whole gyri, so the gyrus that holds each area is lit; the area’s exact border is not drawn.

Sense of time: 7 parts lit

Superior frontal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, putamen, caudate nucleus, cerebellum, prefrontal cortex and insula. Tap one to see where it is and what it does.

The parts and their roles

Holds the supplementary motor area: with the right inferior frontal gyrus it was the only structure active across all timing conditions in 41 studies, and more likely to be active for spans over a second; its front part, the pre-SMA, is in the core timing network with the basal ganglia and right inferior frontal cortex. [1][2] Where is the superior frontal gyrus?
The right inferior frontal gyrus was, with the supplementary motor area, active in every timing condition of the meta-analysis, and right inferior frontal cortex is named in the core timing network found most often. [1][2] Where is the inferior frontal gyrus?
Timing activates the putamen more often than the caudate; the dorsal striatum, fed by the nigrostriatal dopamine pathway, seems the most crucial region for interval timing, and storing a duration in working memory engaged the left putamen. [2] Where is the putamen?
The other half of the dorsal striatum: in Warren Meck’s model, cells in the dorsal striatum read elapsed time from the rhythm of cortical cells’ firing, and in an fMRI study the basal ganglia became active early, while an interval was being encoded. [3][4] Where is the caudate nucleus?
Tied most to short spans and timed movement: magnetic pulses over it disrupt timing of durations under a second but not longer ones, and implicit timing, done to carry out a movement, involves it. [2][3] Where is the cerebellum?
Serves timing over a second: magnetic pulses over the right prefrontal cortex disrupt timing of longer spans but not sub-second ones, explicit timing involves the right prefrontal cortex, and its right dorsolateral part became active late, while two intervals were compared. [2][3][4] Where is the prefrontal cortex?
A model by A. D. Craig proposes that the anterior insula strings together a series of “emotional moments” across time that give awareness of time passing; he points to the many imaging studies of time perception that reported activation here, and frames it as a hypothesis. [5] Where is the insula?

Named areas on the lit gyri

Supplementary motor area, on the : On the superior frontal gyrus, its front part being the pre-SMA; with the right inferior frontal gyrus it was the one region active in every timing condition across 41 imaging studies. [1][2]

How they work together

The span changes the network: sub-second timing tasks were more likely to recruit the basal ganglia and cerebellum, tasks over a second the supplementary motor area and prefrontal cortex, and whether a task asked for a movement or a judgement shifted the pattern again. [1]
Over a few seconds the network unfolds: in one fMRI study the basal ganglia became active early, while an interval was encoded, the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex late, while two intervals were compared, and the cerebellum also late, suggesting a role other than explicit timing. [4]
Telling the time of day is a different clock: the suprachiasmatic nucleus in the hypothalamus sets the circadian (daily) rhythm, and very short millisecond durations are thought to be handled by dedicated neurons in early sensory areas. [3]
Honest limit: these are networks seen in imaging and brain stimulation, not single centres; studies still disagree on which structures matter for interval timing, the insula’s part is a proposal, and the supplementary motor area is a region on a lit gyrus, so whole parts are lit, not exact borders. [1][5][6]

The daily clock is a separate system: the sleep page lights the hypothalamus that holds the suprachiasmatic nucleus. [3] What part of the brain controls sleep?

Keeping a beat uses the same putamen, cerebellum and motor areas: the music page lights them for rhythm. [7] What part of the brain processes music?

Sources

Facts describe anatomy and normal function only. A part lit here takes part in the sense of time; it does not do it alone, and it does other jobs too. The 3D model is the adult male BodyParts3D brain (credits and licence); on it the brainstem includes the midbrain, pons and medulla, so lighting the brainstem lights all three.