Altered Perceptions: How Various Substances Influence Our Perception of Time
Berkeley Scientific Journal January 1, 2016 Aaya Abdelshafy 2 citations
Our perception of time, a core aspect of cognitive psychology, is profoundly altered by common substances, impacting daily communication. For instance, 80% of the US population regularly consumes caffeine, a psychoactive drug. Neuroscience shows dopamine in the midbrain's basal ganglia crucially regulates our internal clock. Substances that boost dopamine's action slow our time perception, while those that inhibit it speed it up. Caffeine, surprisingly, can both slow and speed up time's duration depending on the dose, affecting how we experience the world.