To display the results, threshold values were determined based on the average ± standard deviation. If the difference exceeded this threshold, it was considered significant and displayed; otherwise, it was not shown. The thickness of the lines in the figures represents the strength of the connection.
In the subsequent analysis, the differences between the predictable and unpredictable scenarios were examined for each delay in all frequency bands, and the results are presented below.
As observed in
Figure 3,
Figure 4,
Figure 5 and
Figure 6, in the frequency range of 1 to 40 Hz, the connections decrease with increasing delays in the predictable scenario. Additionally, the connections are stronger in the delay of 150 milliseconds compared to 83 milliseconds. In all delays, there is a connection between the two hemispheres. Furthermore, in the delay of 400 milliseconds, a strong connection is observed from the prefrontal region to the posterior region. This connection also exists in the delays of 83 and 150 milliseconds but is weaker compared to the connection in the delay of 400 milliseconds. In the unpredictable scenario there are connections between the two hemispheres. Moreover the connections also decrease with increasing delays. In the delay of 150 milliseconds, strong connections are observed in the parietal and posterior regions compared to other connections at this delay. To assess the significant difference between the predictable and unpredictable scenarios, a paired t-test with a significance level of
=0.05 has been conducted. The results indicate a significant difference in all delays, and particularly, larger significant differences are observed in the delays of 150 and 400 milliseconds compared to the other delays. in
Figure 7,
Figure 8,
Figure 9 and
Figure 10, the network of communication in the alpha band is observed, indicating information flow between the posterior and anterior regions. Furthermore, in both scenarios, there is communication between the two hemispheres for all delay groups. It is expected that in the predictable scenario, different regions of the brain are engaged in training at different times. Additionally, the study’s findings reveal learning in the alpha band in the parietal regions, even before the stimulation, when the brain is in a training state, aligning with the results of reference [
62]. Moreover, a study on neural imaging of time perception, described in reference [
63], demonstrated that cortical areas such as the parietal cortex are involved in regulating temporal durations.In the unpredictable scenario, in the 400 ms dela while in the 800 ms delay, there is increased connectivity between the posterior regions and the anterior regions. The findings of this study exhibit differences in brain maps for different delays. To investigate whether there is a significant difference between the two scenarios, a paired t-test with
=0.05 has been conducted, and significant correlations have been observed in all delays. In the 400 ms delay, the average connectivity in the unpredictable scenario is higher than in the predictable scenario. In the 800 ms delay, the average differences in connectivity between the unpredictable and predictable scenarios are greater in the anterior regions compared to the posterior regions. Similar significant differences have been observed in the other frequency bands, which are reported in detail below. In the delta band, for the 150 ms, 400 ms, and 800 ms delays in the predictable scenario, there was connectivity between the central and frontal regions. Additionally, in the 83 ms delay, there was strong connectivity from the central region to the anterior region. Moreover, in the 800 ms delay, there was a very strong connection from the central region to the frontal region. In the unpredictable scenario, for all delays, the number of connections was higher compared to the predictable scenario. In this scenario, although there were strong connections in the 800 ms delay, the number of connections decreased compared to other delays. In the 83 ms and 150 ms delays, there was also a very strong connection between the parietal and frontal regions. In the theta band, in both scenarios, there were connections observed in the frontal, prefrontal, and parietal regions for all delays. However, in the 800 ms delay, the number of connections decreased compared to other delays. Additionally, in the study mentioned in reference [
64], it has been shown that exposure to timing estimation tasks affects the severity of inattentive symptoms, ADHD, and theta band activity in the lateral posterior frontal cortex. In the beta band, in the 800 ms delay, there was a decrease in connections compared to other delays in both scenarios. Additionally, the prefrontal region had connections to other areas in all delays, and in the unpredictable scenario, there were more connections compared to the predictable scenario. In the gamma band, in the unpredictable scenario, there were connections throughout the brain for all delays, and in the predictable scenario, there were connections for the delays of 83 and 150 milliseconds. Additionally, there were connections between the posterior and anterior regions in both scenarios. Furthermore, in the article referenced as [
65], it is shown that intervals of less than a second and processing time are associated with increased cognitive functions in areas including the prefrontal cortex. The results reported in paper [
46] indicate that predictability has an effect on behavior at a delay of 800 milliseconds. The authors concluded that there is a predictive timing effect on alpha power during the longest delay period (800 milliseconds). In their experiments, it was found that after the presentation of a cue, alpha power decreased in the predictable condition (between 172-373 milliseconds after the cue) compared to the unpredictable condition, while before the stimulus presentation, alpha power increased in the predictable condition (305 milliseconds before the stimulus) compared to the unpredictable condition. Their study only observed a significant difference between the predictable and unpredictable conditions at the longest delay (800 milliseconds), whereas, in the current study, a significant difference between the two conditions was observed at all delays.