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Abstract

Efficient behavior depends in part on the ability to predict the type and the timing of events in the environment. Specific temporal predictions require an internal representation of the temporal structure of events. Here we propose that temporal prediction recruits adaptive and non-adaptive oscillatory mechanisms involved in establishing such an internal representation. Partial structural and functional convergence of the underlying mechanisms allows speculation about an extended subcortico-cortical network. This network develops around a dual-pathway architecture, which establishes the basis for preparing the organism for perceptual integration, for the generation of specific temporal predictions, and for optimizing the brain's allocation of its limited resources. Key to these functions is rapid cerebellar transmission of an adaptively-filtered, event-based representation of temporal structure. Rapid cerebellar transmission engages a pathway comprising connections from early sensory processing stages to the cerebellum and from there to the thalamus, effectively bypassing more central stages of classical sensory pathways.