The sensation that life is speeding up is a commonly reported aspect of ageing. Experiments have suggested that our ability to assess the passing of time does alter with age. If you ask a twenty-year-old and a seventy-year-old person to guess when a minute has passed without counting, the younger person does it more accurately, while time appears to be going slightly faster for the older person.

American biologist Robert B. Sothern has spent forty-five years seeing if he encounters a similar effect as he ages. Five times a day he records his temperature, blood pressure, heart rate and estimation of the passing of a minute. He never misses a day, even when he’s on holiday. His main research interest is in whether the timing of medical treatments can affect their efficacy, a theory about which most researchers remain sceptical, but his diligent self-study does tell us something extraordinary about time perception. As he has become older his time estimation has become less accurate and time seems to be gradually speeding up.  

This is not as straightforward as it seems. The way we assess time remains something of a mystery. Nowhere in the brain has anyone been able to find a single area dedicated to time perception. We do have a body clock that rules our 24-hour sleep/wake cycle, however, this only governs our circadian rhythms and plays no role in estimating seconds, minutes, or even the years passing.

That said, the idea that time feels as though it’s going faster in middle age appears to be a myth. In fact, it depends on the time-frame you are considering. As we get older life inevitably brings fewer fresh experiences, and more routines. Because we use the number of new memories we form to gauge how much time has passed, an average week that doesn’t loom large in the memory gives the illusion that time is shrinking.

There is a remedy. If you want the weekend to go slowly, don’t spend time resting and watching TV. Instead fill it with new experiences and by Sunday night you will look back and the weekend will seem long. So, as surprising or frustrating as it might seem, perhaps if life does seem to be rushing by it is a sign that things are going well.

Source: BBC

Image: BBC/ Uroš Jovičić