what gives us the perception of the speed of time?

[wanghankun]

so what gives us the perception of the speed of time? speed of time for different species are different, for example, for a fruit fly, one second for them is a lot longer than one second for us, so what determines this difference?

im asking this question becauce im wondering what happens if somehow you change individuel neuoron into mechanical form using nano tech and change the signals that neuron transfer into em wave that proprogate in the speed of light, would that slows down our perception of the speed of the time since our brain works in a much higher speed?

 

im a high school student and not an expert in neuroscience, so please dont call me stupid

Edited April 25, 2014 by wanghankun

[StringJunky]

In visual terms, our experience is a sequence of passing still images and the more of these still images your brain can create in a second the slower things will appear to occur. It is generally tied in with the size of an organism and it's metabolic rate. The smaller it is the faster the metabolic rate and hence the slower things appear to occur. If the signal speed is faster then the recycling rate is increased so things will appear slower still.

Edited April 25, 2014 by StringJunky

[wanghankun]

so if the signal travels in the speed of light, we sees everything is slow mo, but does our speed of thinking change from our own point of perception.

[HRS]

Time can also be dependent on other senses, though not as strongly as sight, such as the sense of hearing, acceleration, touch, and hunger. Especially hunger. Twenty minutes waiting outside a restaurant is like FOREVER compared to twenty minutes sitting around in general, typing on an online forum perhaps. For instance, deja vu is hypothetically explained by some of our senses catching up to the others, where some perceive the environment slightly ahead of the others, and the mind is just making up the difference. So time interpretation is just based on the species and the individual as well, perhaps with behavioral seeds where some are more patient and time can travel faster for them mentally than for others.

 

Sight can not only be the only indication of time we have. Perception of time also changes with age as well, even after a period of a few weeks (ever wake up just moments before your alarm goes off in the morning?).

 

However, perhaps if you slowed the impulses of the transfer of information to the centers of the brains that process environmental input, it would appear that time is travelling slower than possible.

 

An interesting note: A tumor pressing up against the right part of the brain can also change perception of time as well, overriding the sense of acceleration and sense even.

 

Oh btw, there are more than five senses. Just thought I should mention that.

[Genecks]

My answer is that I do not know. It appears that not enough research has been done in neuroscience to provide a feasible answer.

However, you may want to read these articles.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_perception

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specious_present

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrow_of_time

 

 

so what gives us the perception of the speed of time? speed of time for different species are different, for example, for a fruit fly, one second for them is a lot longer than one second for us, so what determines this difference?

im asking this question becauce im wondering what happens if somehow you change individuel neuoron into mechanical form using nano tech and change the signals that neuron transfer into em wave that proprogate in the speed of light, would that slows down our perception of the speed of the time since our brain works in a much higher speed?

 

im a high school student and not an expert in neuroscience, so please dont call me stupid

 

I see what you're getting at. However, the research on the perception of time has not been finalized. Being able to understand how time perception works may help in generating a new system of reaction speed and reaction time in humans in order to help them react to dangerous situations quicker than usual: Perhaps in determining how to avoid a car crash in a split second. If you ever watch the anime Cyborg 009, there is an episode with a main character who's cybernetic body is going pretty much at high speeds, which seem close to the speed of light. Because he's moving and cognitively processing information at a quick rate, he has the opportunity to change his environment at relatively high speeds unlike others who are not moving as fast as him.

Edited April 26, 2014 by Genecks

[StringJunky]

I found this:

 

 

For people, the average CFF (critical flicker-fusion rate) is 60 hertz (ie, 60 times a second). This is why the refresh-rate on a television screen is usually set at that value. Dogs have a CFF of 80Hz, which is probably why they do not seem to like watching television. To a dog a TV programme looks like a series of rapidly changing stills.

Having the highest possible CFF would carry biological advantages, because it would allow faster reaction to threats and opportunities. Flies, which have a CFF of 250Hz, are notoriously difficult to swat. A rolled up newspaper that seems to a human to be moving rapidly appears to them to be travelling through treacle.

 

http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21586532-small-creatures-fast-metabolisms-see-world-action-replay-slo-mo

Edited April 26, 2014 by StringJunky

[Genecks]

The flicker fusion threshold (or flicker fusion rate) is a concept in the psychophysics of vision. It is defined as the frequency at which an intermittent light stimulus appears to be completely steady to the average human observer. Flicker fusion threshold is related to persistence of vision. Although flicker can be detected for many waveforms representing time-variant fluctuations of intensity, it is conventionally, and most easily, studied in terms of sinusoidal modulation of intensity. There are then 7 parameters that determine the ability to detect the flicker:

 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flicker_fusion_threshold

Edited April 26, 2014 by Genecks

[pwagen]

For people, the average CFF (critical flicker-fusion rate) is 60 hertz (ie, 60 times a second). This is why the refresh-rate on a television screen is usually set at that value. Dogs have a CFF of 80Hz, which is probably why they do not seem to like watching television. To a dog a TV programme looks like a series of rapidly changing stills.

 

I have to question this. If this was true, wouldn't people see 24/25 Hz video as "a series of rapidly changing stills" as well? Obviously we don't, so what am I missing?