Toward understanding the role of visual hierarchy in flicker-induced time dilation: A preregistered study
- 1Department of Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
- 2Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Inc., Tokyo, Japan
Abstract
When a temporal interval is marked by flickering stimuli, its subjective duration is overestimated. The cortical origin of this temporal illusion, termed flicker-induced time dilation (FITD), is not yet well understood. In this pre-registered study, we aimed to explore whether the higher-level regions of ventral visual stream contribute to FITD. By using the semantic wavelet-induced frequency tagging (SWIFT) technique, four experimental conditions were created. Luminance and semantic flickers were created to selectively target the lower- and higher-level regions of the visual hierarchy, respectively. A combined luminance and semantic flicker condition was additionally created to probe the effect of simultaneous entrainment of lower- and higher-level visual regions on FITD. Lastly, to account for the single-pixel modulations and ripple-like motions induced by SWIFT, a control scramble condition was included. The phase-clustering analysis (N = 20) confirmed that the control scramble condition did not result in neural entrainment, whereas the flicker conditions showed entrainment whose magnitude and topography were consistent with their respective experimental manipulations. Nonetheless, the behavioral results indicated that the time dilation effect was not modulated by the flickering conditions neither was its magnitude correlated with the size of entrained oscillations. Moreover, the SWIFT scrambles led to a time dilation effect which was comparable to the flickering conditions. We discussed that while our results are not in agreement with neural entrainment account of FITD, they are not in agreement with the processing principles definition of salience either. Based on the putative shared cortical sources of SWIFT scrambles and luminance-modulated flickers, we conjectured that FITD, and motion-induced time dilation may rely on the same mechanism based on activation of motion sensitive regions. Finally, our results indicated that, at least at the presence of steadily activated lower-level visual and/or motion sensitive areas, periodic activation of ventral stream does not contribute to FITD.
Related
- Competitive Neural Dynamics of Flicker-Induced Time Dilation
- Dynamic force-induced nucleoporin stretch mechanomemory prolongs nuclear pore complex dilation and importin transport
- Neural correlates of ketamine-induced dilation of temporal expectation
- Individualized Gabor Flicker for Well-Tolerated Neural Entrainment During Working Memory
- Critical Flicker Fusion Frequency As An Experience-Restricted Constraint On Visual Temporal Resolution: What Does And Does Not Change It
BibTeX
@article{chatroudi2026toward,
title = {{Toward understanding the role of visual hierarchy in flicker-induced time dilation: A preregistered study}},
author = {Amirmahmoud Houshmand Chatroudi and Yuko Yotsumoto},
journal = {PLOS One},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0337307},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0337307},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Toward understanding the role of visual hierarchy in flicker-induced time dilation: A preregistered study
AU - Amirmahmoud Houshmand Chatroudi
AU - Yuko Yotsumoto
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/13
JO - PLOS One
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0337307
UR - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0337307
AB - When a temporal interval is marked by flickering stimuli, its subjective duration is overestimated. The cortical origin of this temporal illusion, termed flicker-induced time dilation (FITD), is not yet well understood. In this pre-registered study, we aimed to explore whether the higher-level regions of ventral visual stream contribute to FITD. By using the semantic wavelet-induced frequency tagging (SWIFT) technique, four experimental conditions were created. Luminance and semantic flickers were created to selectively target the lower- and higher-level regions of the visual hierarchy, respectively. A combined luminance and semantic flicker condition was additionally created to probe the effect of simultaneous entrainment of lower- and higher-level visual regions on FITD. Lastly, to account for the single-pixel modulations and ripple-like motions induced by SWIFT, a control scramble condition was included. The phase-clustering analysis (N = 20) confirmed that the control scramble condition did not result in neural entrainment, whereas the flicker conditions showed entrainment whose magnitude and topography were consistent with their respective experimental manipulations. Nonetheless, the behavioral results indicated that the time dilation effect was not modulated by the flickering conditions neither was its magnitude correlated with the size of entrained oscillations. Moreover, the SWIFT scrambles led to a time dilation effect which was comparable to the flickering conditions. We discussed that while our results are not in agreement with neural entrainment account of FITD, they are not in agreement with the processing principles definition of salience either. Based on the putative shared cortical sources of SWIFT scrambles and luminance-modulated flickers, we conjectured that FITD, and motion-induced time dilation may rely on the same mechanism based on activation of motion sensitive regions. Finally, our results indicated that, at least at the presence of steadily activated lower-level visual and/or motion sensitive areas, periodic activation of ventral stream does not contribute to FITD.
SN - 1932-6203
ER -