Subjective Time in Ordinary and Non-ordinary States of Consciousness: How Interoceptive Feelings Inform Us About the Passage of Time.

The sense of time is strongly embodied, rooted in the temporal dynamics of ascending physiological signals from the body. Functional neuroimaging and psychophysiological evidence show that subjective time judgments depend on the physical and emotional self. Emotions and related body feelings shape subjective time, and altered states of consciousness, such as meditative states, modulate perception of the physical state, thereby affecting the experience of time. The authors conclude that time perception is fundamentally based on bodily signals.

Study at a glance

Abstract

In accordance with Bud (A.D.) Craig's theories, we maintain that ascending physiological signals in their temporal dynamics are a necessary prerequisite for human time judgments. Functional neuroimaging and psychophysiological evidence have increasingly demonstrated that the subjective judgment of time is based on the physical and emotional self. The psychological literature reveals how emotions and related body feelings shape subjective time. Empirical studies of altered states of consciousness, namely meditative states, are also of prime interest as the perception of the physical state is strongly modulated and thereby affects the subjective experience of time. Our conclusion is that the sense of time is strongly embodied.