We knew that the brain influenced the perception of the passage of time. But it can fluctuate. There are times when time seems to pass faster. Sometimes slower (Gettyimages)

When a person reads a book, his brain controls the passage of time. The person does not realize it and this allows him to concentrate on reading. This perception of time by the brain can fluctuateand some moments seem to stretch or shrink relative to every other target.

Although these folds in time may be distortions of reality, technically they are not all in your head. According to a new scientific studiessome come from heart.

Heartbeats punctuate the perception of time, said lead author and professor of psychology at the Cornell University in the United States, Adam Anderson. Their work illustrated the key role the heart plays in helping to keep track of time. The study was published in the journal Psychophysiology.

Research has shown that heart rate can influence our perception of external stimuli (Getty)
Research has shown that heart rate can influence our perception of external stimuli (Getty)

“Time is a dimension of the universe and a fundamental basis of our experience of self,” Anderson said. “Our research demonstrates that experiencing time from moment to moment is synchronized with the duration of heartbeats and changes with them,” he added.

These variations in the perception of time – or “time ripples” – are normal, say the researchers, and can be adaptive. Previous research has also explored its origins, suggesting that thoughts and emotions can distort the sense of time, making certain moments appear to expand or contract.

In a study last year, for example, Anderson and his colleagues found that virtual reality train rides seemed to last longer for passengers when the simulated trains were more crowded.

But a number of previous studies have focused on the perception of relatively long time intervals and therefore tend to reveal more about how people feel about long delays than how they experience them directly in the moment.

The moment-to-moment experience of time is synchronized with the duration of the heartbeat and changes with it, according to scientists at Cornell University (Gettyimages)
The moment-to-moment experience of time is synchronized with the duration of the heartbeat and changes with it, according to scientists at Cornell University (Gettyimages)

To shed more light on this last point, the new study looked for links between time perception and behaviors. body rhythms. He focused on the natural fluctuations of heart rate. Although the overall rate of a heart appears stable, each individual beat may be slightly shorter or longer than the previous one.

Research has shown that heart rate can influence our perception of external stimuli, and it’s long been suspected that the heart helps the brain keep up.

The researchers recruited 45 Cornell undergraduate students to participate in the study, all between the ages of 18 and 21, with normal hearing acuity and no history of heart disease.

For the study, they recruited 45 students from Cornell College. They were between 18 and 21 years old, had normal hearing acuity and had no history of heart disease (Getty Images).
For the study, they recruited 45 students from Cornell College. They were between 18 and 21 years old, had normal hearing acuity and had no history of heart disease (Getty Images).

They used electrocardiography (ECG) to monitor heart activity with millisecond resolution and connected the ECG to a computer that played short tones triggered by the subject’s heartbeat.

Each tone lasted between 80 and 180 milliseconds, and after listening to it, subjects were asked whether they thought it lasted longer or shorter than the other tones.

According to the researchers, the results show the existence of “temporary wrinkles”. Subjects perceived sounds to be longer when preceded by a shorter beat, and perceived them to be shorter when followed by a longer rhythm.

“The heartbeat is a rhythm that our brain uses to give us the sense that time is passing,” Anderson explained. “And it’s not linear: it’s constantly contracting and expanding,” he added.

They found that the volunteers in the study perceived the tones as longer when preceded by a shorter rhythm, and perceived them as shorter when followed by a longer rhythm (Getty)
They found that the volunteers in the study perceived the tones as longer when preceded by a shorter rhythm, and perceived them as shorter when followed by a longer rhythm (Getty)

Although the heart can have a big influence on the brain’s perception of time, it’s a two-way street, the researchers noted. Hearing a tone caused subjects to focus their attention on the sound, an “orienting response” which in turn altered their heart rate and reset their experience of time.

Incorrectly perceiving the passage of time can seem wrong, and sometimes it is. But while losing track of time can lead to problems, the type of “time wrinkles” identified in this study may also have adaptive benefits.

The heart appears to help the brain function more efficiently with limited resources, researchers say/File
The heart appears to help the brain function more efficiently with limited resources, researchers say/File

The heart appears to help the brain function more efficiently with limited resources, researchers say, by influencing the way it experiences the passage of time on the smallest scales and by operating for periods of time too short for a thought or a process. conscious feeling.

“Even in these moment-to-moment intervals, our sense of time fluctuates. The pure influence of the heart, from beat to beat, helps create a sense of time,” the researcher pointed out.

Continue reading:

The signs of the heart: how to identify the signs and warnings of a cardiovascular problem
What happens to the heart before the impact of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus
Do the hearts of men and women react differently to stress?
Long-term heart problems rise after suffering mild COVID-19

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