====== Time Awareness ======

>Anticipating events that will happen in the future is among the most important functions the brain performs. Indeed, it has been increasingly stressed that learning and memory are prospective brain functions; that is, they are only adaptive to the extent that they help animals anticipate and prepare for the future (Dudai and Carruthers, 2005; Schacter and Addis, 2007). To anticipate when events will happen, the brain has evolved mechanisms to tell time across a wide range of temporal scales."\\ \\ Source : [[http://www.jneurosci.org/content/37/4/854|Differential Encoding of Time by Prefrontal and Striatal Network Dynamics]] //Journal of Neuroscience// 37 (4) 854-870

However, the neural mechanisms underlying the perception of time, either on short scales (seconds) or long scales (days / weeks), remain almost entirely unknown.

Further reading : [[http://www.interactivemetronome.com/imw/IMpublic/Research/Temporal%20Processing/Gait/Research_Neural%20Basis%20of%20Temporal%20Processing.pdf|The neural basis of temporal processing]] //Annu. Rev. Neurosci.// 2004. 27:307–40

=== Time perception and ageing ===

There are countless colloquial reports that the perceived passage of time appears to substantially 'speed up' with the increase of age. Some academic research projects (example below) have attempted to experimentally quantify this effect. Although there is very broad general agreement that the effect is real, at present, there is no accepted theory to explain the phenomenon.

>In conclusion, we found a significant reduction in the mental perception of the passage of 120 s for older people compared to younger people. The reasons for this phenomenon may be explained by differences in dopaminergic and/or cholinergic pathways or the integration between these two pathways. Future studies should investigate these possibilities."\\ \\ [[https://www.scielo.br/j/anp/a/d6SvJK5tM6kCFPTmpVj5pSz/?lang=en|Arq. Neuro-Psiquiatr. 74 (4)]]{{:oa_padlock_grn.png?16}}

=== Philosophy of time passage ===

From a philosophical point of view, there is a long history of discussions regarding whether the perception of time passing is a 'real' phenomenon, or simply a human illusion.

Some philosophers conclude it is [[https://www.montana.edu/rblock/documents/papers/GruberBlock2013.pdf|example]]

Others say it's not [[https://philpapers.org/archive/DENOTA-5.pdf|example]]

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//Note :// Problems with 'normal' time perception, caused by injuries, drugs, dementia etc. are known under the collective term of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyschronometria|Dyschronometria]]

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Also see: [[content:life_sciences:human_body:core_clock|Core Clock]] , [[content:psychology:general:rhythm_perception]] (and for plant based time 'awareness', see [[content:life_sciences:botany:bamboo_flowering]])

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