The perception of time and its application to medicine

Ready for a headache? 

I often like to entertain myself with bizarre health and physics-related theories. And it so happens that during a course I took in my undergrad (philosophy of time), I stumbled upon an idea that caught my attention. What if time isn’t so independent from the human experience?

There’s a lot of theory out there that attempts to discern what exactly time is. To the human brain, which is good at collecting sense data and interpreting it in a way that we believe we are experiencing a fluid environment with anticipatory events, time seemscontinuous rather than choppy, comprised of many individual but unconnected moments. But is it? Does it seem consistent or do some time periods feel as if they pass more quickly that other periods? What happens if time isn’t consistent? A physicist might not have an easy answer to any of these questions. 

Without getting too much into the metaphysical realm, there are a number of reasons why we may physically and mathematically arrive at the conclusion that time is not only unable to be ever-present, meaning that time is just a false observation that arises from juxtaposed conformations of the universe, but also that the passage of time doesn’t have to be unidirectional. For example, there are mathematical arguments against infinities, which is required for a continuous passage of time. Think about it, between any two moments (or points) in time, there must be an infinite number of other time-points. But our math says this cannot be the case. Moments in time must have separation, just like photons hitting our retinas have physical space between them, despite how our brains perceive images as continuous with an infinite number of movements between events. Likewise, there are no physical or mathematic laws broken by assuming entropy is going backwards or forwards. We may think entropy proceeds “throughout time” unidirectionally, but maybe our brains perceive many co-existent moments in time by organizing them in a particular way. Along this same line of thought, why don’t we have memories of the future?

To attempt an answer and integrate physiology (yes, this post actually is relevant to our biomedical sciences), I would propose that our brains, and indeed most of what we have considered to be life, have evolved a mechanism in which to organize and perceive time. Yes, our brains have a material component that does the organization of moments for us, just like it has a component to organize light. Why does time seem unidirectional and why don’t we have memories of the future? Because then we couldn’t test hypothesis or react to stimuli, we wouldn’t be able to learn, and we wouldn’t have fears or goals—all are forces that allow life to proliferate. Sounds too philosophic and un-topical still? Well a mouse named Marco might have helped some researchers discover the time area of the brain (lateral entorhinal cortex).

https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/08/scientists-found-brains-internal-clock-that-influences-how-we-perceive-time/

https://geminiresearchnews.com/2018/08/how-your-brain-experiences-time/

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0459-6

Now this may all be a little silly. The science is so theoretical that commenting on its validity may itself require the acquisition of a PhD and then some in more than one subject, but let’s take a moment to explore the implications of having a time-sensing organ/integration center that designs our perception of time for us. From a non-medical standpoint, we might be able to actually answer why some time periods feel longer than others. Bored and don’t have anything to do or focus on, meanwhile it feels like time is going super slowly? Well, your brain is actually slowing your perception of time to allow you to find something to focus on—it’s maximizing your experience. Some people report that they felt as though time proceeded more slowly when they were younger and that "time sure does fly". Well, perhaps your brain gets worse at organizing time just like the rest of your body loses its ability to maintain metabolism or genetic integrity. Why do periods of sleep seem to go by so quickly? Well, your brain’s time center is controlling how often you acquire sense data. 

From a medical standpoint, it may be important to first point out that a lot of our health-related data indicate that our biological systems are often integrated with each other. For example, smelling cinnamon rolls can induce digestive processes. If a time-sensing part of the brain exists, what other biological systems might it affect? Has anyone heard of circadian rhythms? Don’t our cells seem to replicate at particular intervals? Don’t these systems have something to do with other aspects of our health? Hmmmm…

An even cooler thought experiment: What might happen if this area of the brain is severely damaged? Maybe… I don’t know… sleep problems? Learning difficulties? Decreased reaction times? Poor metabolism? Irregular cell cycles? … a coma?!?