Music as Time, Music as Timeless

This chapter presents a framework for parsing differing conceptual and analytical positions on time in music, focusing specifically on two contrasting ideologies. The first perspective views music as an art form that exists only in and through the unfolding of time; the second views music as capable of evoking a static temporality, referred to by many scholars as a sense of stasis or timelessness. Discussions on the relationship between time and music typically engage with a subset of overlapping and interacting positions on time. Time is sometimes analysed as external and objective, but can also be construed as internal and subjective. Finally, time is also understood to be created or represented by music, an idea encapsulated by the term ‘musical time’. References to timelessness in music engage with these latter two views on time, specifically music’s ability to represent temporal concepts associated with specific structures (musical time) and perceptual mechanisms related to certain musical features that result in a subjective experience interpreted as timelessness. Using the dual lenses of psychology and philosophy, I argue that timelessness is an inherent part of the multiple systems of temporal production and perception that underlie the way we experience and discuss time in music.

Neurocognitive Effects of Self-Determined Choice and Emotional Arousal on Time Estimation

Even though effects of emotion and motivation on cognition are well documented, the interaction of all three factors is rarely investigated. Here, we used electroencephalography (EEG) to examine the effects of self-determined choice—as an experimental manipulation of intrinsic motivation - and emotional stimulus content on task preparation and engagement in a temporal production task. Behavioral results indicated a modulation of time processing depending on choice and emotional content. Underlying EEG signals revealed differential modulations by choice on the contingent negative variation (CNV) during task and response preparation and by emotional content on the late positive potential (LPP) in response to the onset of an emotional picture during temporal production. Also, we obtained preliminary evidence for interaction effects of choice and emotional content on the LPP. The feedback-related negativity (FRN) in response to information regarding temporal production success was also affected by interactions of choice and emotional content. These findings indicate that besides separate effects of motivation and emotion, there may be time windows during task engagement in which both factors jointly affect cognitive processing. These results are interpreted as dynamic modulations of attentional resource allocation.

Mediodorsal thalamus contributes to the timing of instrumental actions

The perception of time is critical to adaptive behavior. While prefrontal cortex and basal ganglia have been implicated in interval timing in the seconds to minutes range, little is known about the role of the mediodorsal thalamus (MD), which is a key component of the limbic cortico-basal ganglia-thalamocortical loop. In this study we tested the role of the MD in timing, using an operant temporal production task in male mice. In this task, the expected timing of available rewards is indicated by lever pressing. Inactivation of the MD with muscimol produced rightward shifts in peak pressing on probe trials as well as increases in peak spread, thus significantly altering both temporal accuracy and precision. Optogenetic inhibition of glutamatergic projection neurons in the MD also resulted in similar changes in timing. The observed effects were found to be independent of significant changes in movement. Our findings suggest that the MD is a critical component of the neural circuit for interval timing, without playing a direct role in regulating ongoing performance.Significance StatementThe mediodorsal nucleus of the thalamus (MD) is strongly connected with the prefrontal cortex and basal ganglia, areas which have been implicated in interval timing. Previous work has shown that the MD contributes to working memory and learning of action-outcome contingencies, but its role in behavioral timing is poorly understood. Using an operant temporal production task, we showed that inactivation of the MD significantly impaired timing behavior.