The SLC6A3 3'-UTR VNTR and intron 8 VNTR polymorphisms association in the time estimation.

OBJECTIVE: The present study investigated the association of 3'-UTR VNTR and intron 8 VNTR polymorphisms with a time estimation task performance. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred and eight men in a Brazilian Northeast population (18-32 years old) participated in the experiment. The 3'-UTR VNTR and intron 8 VNTR polymorphisms were associated alone and combined to absolute error (AE) and relative error (RE) in a time estimation task (target duration: 1 s, 4 s, 7 s and 9 s). RESULTS: We found an association of the behavioral variable with intron 8 VNTR for the time intervals of 1 s and 9 s (p < 0.001) and polymorphisms combinatorial effect for 1 s (p ≤ 0.05). CONCLUSION: The intron 8 VNTR polymorphism and the combinatorial effect can modulate the time estimate in the domain of supra seconds, and thus our study indicates a role of the dopamine transporter in the neurobiological areas related to the time intervals judgment.

Low-frequency rTMS in the superior parietal cortex affects the working memory in horizontal axis during the spatial task performance.

Spatial working memory has been extensively investigated with different tasks, treatments, and analysis tools. Several studies suggest that low frequency of the repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) applied to the parietal cortex may influence spatial working memory (SWM). However, it is not yet known if after low-frequency rTMS applied to the superior parietal cortex, according to Pz electroencephalography (EEG) electrode, would change the orientation interpretation about the vertical and horizontal axes coordinates in an SWM task. The current study aims at filling this gap and obtains a better understanding of the low-frequency rTMS effect in SWM. In this crossover study, we select 20 healthy subjects in two conditions (control and 1-Hz rTMS). The subjects performed an SWM task with two random coordinates. Our results presented that low-frequency rTMS applied over the superior parietal cortex may influence the SWM to lead to a larger distance of axes interception point (p < 0.05). We conclude that low-frequency rTMS over the superior parietal cortex (SPC) changes the SWM performance, and it has more predominance in horizontal axis.

Modelos de percepção do tempo: um novo paradigma para o fisioterapeuta / Time perception models: a new paradigm for the physical therapist

A percepção do tempo é subjetiva e relativa, além de modulada por aspectos neurofuncionais como a emoção, memória e atenção, e está alterada em algumas patologias neuropsiquiátricas. Entretanto, ainda existe muita discussão sobre quais modelos de percepção do tempo são mais aceitáveis e como estão envolvidos nas doenças neurológicas. Desse modo, o conhecimento do fisioterapeuta sobre a percepção do tempo e seus modelos é um fator que pode direcionar ao tratamento do paciente, pois há uma ativação de áreas corticais na percepção do tempo que também são envolvidas na motricidade. Um modelo geral de processamento de informação temporal deve comportar um oscilador, acumulador e comparador dos dados obtidos com a memória. No entanto, as bases neurofisiológicas dos mecanismos de percepção do tempo ainda não são totalmente determinadas, existindo modelos que apontam a existência de um mecanismo neural único ou a de vários dispositivos especializados em diferentes escalas. Embora as mudanças na percepção do tempo não caracterizem uma doença, diversos comprometimentos neurológicos podem acometer a percepção temporal. Apesar dos esforços não se pode concluir sobre quais áreas desempenham a função temporizadora, apenas inferir por meio de experimentos realizados em animais e humanos. (AU)

The time perception is subjective, relative and modulated by neurofunctional aspects such as emotion, memory and attention. This is altered in some neuropsychiatric disorders. However, there is still much debate about which time perception models are more acceptable and how they are involved in neurological diseases. Thus, the physical therapist knowledge of time perception and its models is a factor that can direct the patient treatment, as there is activation in cortical areas which are also involved in motor function. A general model temporal information processing must contain an oscillator, accumulator and comparator data obtained from the memory. However, the neurophysiology of time perception mechanisms are still not fully determined, models exist which indicate the existence of a single neural mechanism or various specialized devices with different scales. Although the change in the time perception does not characterize a disease, various neurological impairments can affect time perception. Despite efforts cannot conclude on areas which perform the timer function, only inferred through performed in animal and human experiments. (AU)