Article I’ve researched time for 15 years – here’s how my perception of it has changed

[C C]

https://theconversation.com/ive-research...ged-215499

EXCERPT: . . . This research has taught me that time’s flexibility is an inherent part of the way in which we process it. We are not like clocks which record seconds and minutes with perfect accuracy. Instead, our brain appears to be wired to perceive time in a way which is responsive to the world around us.

The way in which our brain processes time is closely related to the way in which it processes emotion. This is because some of the brain areas involved in the regulation of emotional and physiological arousal are also involved in the processing of time. During heightened emotion, the activation caused by the brain attempts to maintain stability, which alters its ability to process time.

So, when we experience fear, joy, anxiety or sadness, emotional processing and time processing interact. This results in the sensation of time passing more speeding up or slowing down. Time really does fly when you’re having fun and drag when you’re bored.

Changes in our experience of time are most profound during periods of extreme emotion. In near death experiences, like my car crash for example, time slows to the point of stopping. We don’t know why our brains distort sensory information during trauma... (MORE - missing details)

[Magical Realist]

I'm amazed how duration is so subjective. When I wake up and lie in bed for awhile I glance at the clock and it seems an hour has passed when its only 15 minutes. Other times I glance at it and seems 5 minutes have passed when it's actually 45 minutes. Time really must be deeply interwoven with our conscious states. Or rather, our judgment of it is.