Our body systems have innate abilities that sometimes amaze us. For example, recording of time! When waiting for the next bus home, the time you spend at the bus stage can actually be estimated. While it cannot be exact, at least there is some element of an almost correct approximation.
Well, research now has some answers to this phenomenon. That alarm found in your system that tells you that probably you have spent a good time at the food store is from a temporal mechanism that obtains its support from two neural clocks in the brain. Previously, research had it that the innate time keeping ability was from striatum, a portion of the brain. But now this has changed after the discovery that this exact region becomes active when there is a consciousness of time. It is however, different in patients with Parkinson's disease. They have difficulty calculating time because this part is disrupted.
Researchers say that with every human activity, there is the consistent rhythmic movement of striatum, just the same way a clock does. Recent studies suggest that for an individual to be conscious of time, the brain definitely depends on the hippocampus. This helps with the memory of the number of pulses experienced. The concept is referred to as interval timer. It gives the explanation of how people judge time.
People often notice that time spent in the company of friends and acquaintances flies faster than that spent on doing a difficult assignment. Scientists explain that the brain stops recording pulses the moment one does not pay attention to activity that is engrossing. During such moments, the brain does not record the ticks of the internal clock, so less time seems to be spent when this is not the actual case.
In situations you are very conscious of, however, like when expecting a visitor at a given time, the brain begins the recording because there are limited distractions as the mind is purely absorbed in the matter at hand. The mind counts each tick of time without a distracter. Eventually, it appears like time is not moving at all. Next time you find time dragging on endlessly, try having an activity that will distract the ticking of your internal clock. This will lessen the anxiety that comes with the "waiting time" that is usually rather stressing.
The Brain's Internal Timer
As soon as an activity commences action, the start signal is activated. Some events, like boiling water using the heater, is estimated to take between 5 and 6 minutes. These are familiar activities and the timer is almost always exact in estimation.
