Work

Properties of the Internal Clock: First- and Second-Order Principles of Subjective Time

Year: 2013

Type: review

Abstract: Humans share with other animals an ability to measure the passage of physical time and subjectively experience a sense of time passing. Subjective time has hallmark qualities, akin to other senses, which can be accounted for by formal, psychological, and neurobiological models of the internal clock. These include first-order principles, such as changes in clock speed and how temporal memories are stored, and second-order principles, including timescale invariance, multisensory integration, rhythmical structure, and attentional time-sharing. Within these principles there are both typical individual differences--influences of emotionality, thought speed, and psychoactive drugs--and atypical differences in individuals affected with certain clinical disorders (e.g., autism, Parkinson's disease, and schizophrenia). This review summarizes recent behavioral and neurobiological findings and provides a theoretical framework for considering how changes in the properties of the internal clock impact time perception and other psychological domains.

Source: Annual Review of Psychology

DOI: 10.1146/annurev-psych-010213-115117

Authors: Melissa J. Allman, Sundeep Teki, Timothy D. Griffiths, Warren H. Meck

Institutions: Michigan State University, Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, Newcastle University, Duke University

Language: English

Topic: Neuroscience and Music Perception

Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: Wellcome Trust, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

Awards: Core support for the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, Cortical bases for auditory perception., Time Perception and Timed Performance in Autism