Scientists from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, have found that our brains estimate time by the number of events rather than by precise units of measurement.
A new analysis of brain activity has shown how our minds keep track of time and revealed interesting features of neuronal functioning. Unlike computers that measure time in seconds, minutes, and hours, our brains use a completely different approach.
The researchers focused on the anterior cingulate cortex — the area of the brain responsible for monitoring activity and tracking experience. They conducted an experiment in which rats performed a repetitive task 200 times, while scientists monitored their brain activity.
The results showed that the brain activity during each repetition of the task was slightly different from the previous one, and these differences became more significant over time. Interestingly, the overall brain activity remained the same, regardless of how long it took the rats to complete the entire task.
James Hyman, lead author of the study, explains: «We define time in our own experience by the things we do and the events that happen to us. When we are motionless and bored, time passes very slowly because we do nothing. On the contrary, when there are many events happening, each of them “moves” our brain forward».
They also noticed how different neurons processed the task at different times. Small groups of brain cells collaborated on a task for several repetitions before passing it on to another group. This explains why events that are close in time are difficult to distinguish, but distant events are felt differently.
This research helps to better understand how our brains organize memories in a temporal sequence and recall events at different relative times. Hyman adds: «It’s the part of the brain we use to keep track of, for example, a conversation during dinner. You can recall topics at the beginning, during dessert, and at the end, but you can’t isolate individual sentences from memory».
The study was published in the journal Current Biology.
Source: Newatlas