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TIME PERCEPTION By Heather Lo
Do you ever feel that time could not pass by anymore slower when you are almost late for school but are still waiting for 12A at Admiralty bus-stop? However, time feels like rushing past when we are on holiday and are having fun? To explain this, let us learn more about time perception. Definition and overview Time perception is a fascinating and interesting phenomenon. It is one of the most important topics of neuropsychology (a branch of psychology that studies human behaviours with neurological observations). It is defined as how our brain estimates time intervals and duration. By studying how patients with dorsolateral prefrontal right cortex lesions perceive time differently from those with intact right cortex, neuroscientists believe that the dorsolateral prefrontal right cortex is the region most involved in time perception. Time perception can be explained from the neuropsychological, cognitive psychological, philosophical and other perspectives. In this article, we will focus on the neuropsychological foundation of time perception. Every one of us has an internal clock. Time perception can be accurate, but sometimes it can be inaccurate. The inaccuracy of our time perception is not the result of a malfunctioning internal clock. In fact, the perception of time is a complex neural mechanism that can be influenced by our emotional state, level of attention, memory and diseases. It shows our ability to adapt to events happening around us. Time flies more quickly when we are busy or having something fun. However, minutes drag by when we are bored, worried, anxious or frustrated.
