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Italian 7-T MRI Maps Brain Stages for Sub-Second Flashes

5/15/2026

Summary

Story summary

Italy researchers at SISSA used a 7-tesla MRI to scan 13 volunteers judging 0.2–0.8-second visual flashes.
Participants compared each flash to a memorized half-second reference and pressed a button for “shorter” or “longer,” revealing three neural stages.
Frontal cells peaked near the half-second mark and mirrored bias.
Visual back-brain favored longest durations.
Researchers cautioned that the pattern may differ for sound timing and noted the study appears in PLOS Biology.

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Story summary

Italy researchers at SISSA used a 7-tesla MRI to scan 13 volunteers judging 0.2–0.8-second visual flashes.
Participants compared each flash to a memorized half-second reference and pressed a button for “shorter” or “longer,” revealing three neural stages.
Frontal cells peaked near the half-second mark and mirrored bias.
Visual back-brain favored longest durations.
Researchers cautioned that the pattern may differ for sound timing and noted the study appears in PLOS Biology.