Integration of speed and time for estimating time to contact

Significance Existing theories suggest that reacting to dynamic stimuli is made possible by relying on internal estimates of kinematic variables. For example, to catch a bouncing ball the brain relies on the position and speed of the ball. However, when kinematic information is unreliable one may additionally rely on temporal cues. In the bouncing ball example, when visibility is low one may benefit from the temporal information provided by the sound of the bounces. Our work provides evidence that humans rely on such temporal cues and automatically integrate them with kinematic information to optimize their performance. This finding reveals a hitherto unappreciated role of the brain’s timing mechanisms in sensorimotor function. To coordinate movements with events in a dynamic environment the brain has to anticipate when those events occur. A classic example is the estimation of time to contact (TTC), that is, when an object reaches a target. It is thought that TTC is estimated from kinematic variables. For example, a tennis player might use an estimate of distance (d) and speed (v) to estimate TTC (TTC = d/v). However, the tennis player may instead estimate TTC as twice the time it takes for the ball to move from the serve line to the net line. This latter strategy does not rely on kinematics and instead computes TTC solely from temporal cues. Which of these two strategies do humans use to estimate TTC? Considering that both speed and time estimates are inherently uncertain and the ability of the human brain to combine different sources of information, we hypothesized that humans estimate TTC by integrating speed information with temporal cues. We evaluated this hypothesis systematically using psychophysics and Bayesian modeling. Results indicated that humans rely on both speed information and temporal cues and integrate them to optimize their TTC estimates when both cues are present. These findings suggest that the brain’s timing mechanisms are actively engaged when interacting with dynamic stimuli.