A recent mouse brain study has provided insight into how the brain tells time, and its lead researcher believes the findings have practical applications for how we cope with the unpleasant events in life or make the most of the good times.
Researchers at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, monitored the brainwave activity of rats as they repeated behaviors over an hour and found that we seem to perceive time by the number of experiences, rather than the passage of experiences. . Their findings, published this month in the peer-reviewed journal Current Biology, suggest there is some truth to the old adage “time flies when you’re having fun.” However, you might use another word instead of “fun” – busy.
“We judge time by what we do and what happens to us,” lead author James Hyman, a professor of psychology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said in a statement. “When we stand still When we are active and bored, time passes slowly because we are not doing anything or nothing is happening. In contrast, when many events are happening, each activity is pushing our brain forward. Therefore, research. The personnel concluded: “The more we do, the more things happen, the faster time flies. “
The study tracked changes in brain patterns in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a part of the brain involved in tracking experience, as rodents performed the task. They found that regardless of speed, the mice’s neuron patterns always followed the same path. They say this shows how experience, rather than an increase in time, can lead to changes in our neuronal patterns.
Hyman told Gizmodo via email that there are some immediate, practical benefits to understanding how our brains perceive time. “If something is unpleasant, try to expose yourself to something else as quickly as possible,” he said. “Do a lot of things. Do new things. The more you can experience, the more distant the unpleasant things will be. Obviously, the opposite also applies.
“Let’s say you’re with your friends and everything is perfect,” Hyman explains. “Then I would say stop doing things. Sit down and calm down,” he said. “Slow down, time will slow down with you.”
