Researchers at University of Utah Health have found that, in mice, a specific population of “time cells” is essential for learning complex behaviors where timing is critical. By combining a complex time-based learning task with advanced brain imaging, researchers were able to watch patterns of time cell activity become more complex as the mice learned.
Like the second hand of a clock, time cells fire in sequence to map out short periods of time. But time cells aren’t just a simple clock, the researchers found—as animals learn to distinguish between differently timed events, the pattern of time cell activity changes to represent each pattern of events differently. The discovery could ultimately aid in early detection of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer, that affect the sense of time.
The study is published in Nature Neuroscience…