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It is clear to all of us that the sense of time is a relatively complex issue, and varies from one individual to another and from one stage to another, although we agree that time accelerates as we get older.
A survey conducted by Mark Whitman and Andra Lenhoff, psychologists at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich in 2005, in which 499 participants between the ages of 14 and 94 participated, showed that older people were more likely to feel that time was “flying.” Our experience of time varies depending on what we do and how we feel, but why does time speed up as we get older even though the hours of the day are the same?
The brain’s internal clock
Psychologists differed in answering this question, and presented many theories and explanations. A research paper published in 2019 showed that the actual time of a clock differs from the time perceived by the human mind, “mind time,” which is linked to a series of images, visual inputs, and biological changes. The research indicated that the ability Individuals’ processing of visual information slows down with age and thus time accelerates from their perspective.
Heart rate
A study led by Dr. Adam Anderson at Cornell University in the United States, and published in the Journal of Physiological Psychology 2023, linked our perception of time and heart rate. The researchers asked participants to estimate the duration of listening to a brief audio tone after providing them with an electrocardiogram, and it was found that the tone seemed longer with a rapid heartbeat. In contrast to a slow heartbeat, it is not strange for children to feel that time is slowing down, as their heartbeats usually accelerate.
The effect of age on our appreciation of time
A study from the Hungarian University of Eotivos Lorand 2023 provided another explanation for this puzzle, which is that time passes slowly in children with interesting events, and the opposite happens in adults. The researchers divided the participants into 3 age groups, the first group from 4 to 5 years, and the second group from 9. to 10 years, and a group for adults aged 18 and over.
They were shown two one-minute video clips, one of which was full of exciting events and the other was monotonous and uneventful. When asked which was longer, their answers revealed a surprising effect of age. Most children answered that the eventful video was the longest, while the monotonous video seemed to be the longest. Longer for most adults.
Time expands with new experiences
The Insider website quotes Hayley Nelson, a specialist in neuroscience and behavior, as saying, “The high plasticity in children’s brains helps them form new neural connections and form detailed memories of events.”
Nelson explains that the world in childhood represents a new place and full of experiences, and every event represents an adventure for the child, and thus a greater amount of brain power is devoted to constantly processing and encoding this new information, and that is why time passes slowly compared to adults who are stuck in the routine and monotony of life after they have become more familiar with everything. Details and overwhelmed by the responsibilities of work, home and family.
Time from a retrospective perspective is slower
Nelson adds that it is also related to our view of the past from a retrospective perspective, as the brain is active when it encounters important events, such as failing a driving test or traveling with a life partner for the first time, and when we remember these events, they appear for a longer period and in detail, even though the event may seem short while it is occurring. And time was not slower then.
According to Nelson, strong emotions such as anxiety, fear, and dread contribute to slowing down time, and this is confirmed by a study conducted by the French University of Poitiers in 2011 on the effect of the emotional state on our perception of time. Psychologists showed the students excerpts from horror films, and asked them to estimate the duration of the visual stimulus, and the study concluded Fear affects our perception of time and causes the mind’s internal clock to speed up, making time seem as if it does not pass.
Cindy Lusting, a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, explains to HuffPost that our brains tend to group similar things and events together in one place, and it becomes normal for a 65-year-old person who does the same things every day to have an increased sense of the acceleration of time, because events… The entire year is collected in a very small part of the brain, and this is in contrast to the new and diverse life experiences that the brain encodes in memory and when recalled at a later time, it seems like a long period of time.
Law of relativity
In an article on the website (The Conversation), Christian Yates, a lecturer in mathematical biology at the British University of Bath, explains another reason for this phenomenon, which is the relative nature of time, and that as we get older, the sense of time diminishes, because it represents a small percentage in relation to our entire life.
According to this theory, a year for a 3-year-old child represents a third of his life, but it represents only 2% at the age of 50. This theory was first proposed by the French philosopher Paul Janet in 1897 and depends on the perception of time as it represents our total life.
How do we maintain our awareness of time?
- Solve the Puzzles: It enhances brain functions, which helps in a stable perception of time.
- New experiences: Our perception of time depends on the number of new experiences.
- Slow breathing exercises: Maintains normal heart rate.
- Attention to psychological aspects And relax by following healthy eating patterns and regular sleep hours.
