How Our Brains Process “What” and “When”

This piece, by Onno Berkan, was published on 10/29/24. The original text, by Oever & Martin, was published by the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience on 01/01/24.

This Planck Institute study explores how our brains process information in terms of both "what" (content) and "when" (timing), and why considering both aspects together is crucial for understanding brain function.

The researchers highlight a fundamental divide in neuroscience research methods: fMRI studies typically focus on where things happen in the brain, while EEG studies examine when things happen. However, they argue that separating these aspects may be problematic, as the brain naturally integrates both timing and content information together.

The study emphasizes that temporal variability –how timing can shift and vary– is often overlooked in brain research. This variability isn't just random noise; it can be systematic and meaningful, potentially leading to misinterpretation of research results if not properly considered. For example, what might appear as a slow brain process could actually be a faster process that varies in its timing across different instances.

The brain uses timing information as a crucial cue to understand content. For instance, in language processing, the timing of sounds (in speech, for example) helps determine which sounds we perceive. The brain shows some flexibility with timing, but there are limits: if information comes at unexpected times, it can affect how well we process and remember it.

The researchers argue that we need new approaches to studying brain function that consider both content and timing together. This means developing better methods to analyze data that can account for natural variations in timing. This includes creating more sophisticated computer models and conducting experiments that specifically examine how timing and content interact.

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