Time Perception: How Much Does Our Brain Actually Sense?

There are moments when a minute seems to pass in the blink of an eye… but sometimes that minute feels as if it lasts for hours. How is this possible? After all, a minute is a minute. Yet in our inner world, time sometimes speeds up, sometimes slows down, and at times even seems to stand still. This is where our perception of time comes into play. In this article, we will discuss how our brain perceives time, why this perception fluctuates, and how much of it we can truly feel. If you’re ready, let’s take a small journey through time.

What Is Time, and What Is Perception?

First, it must be said: Time is a concept that can be measured physically. Clocks, calendars, and stopwatches all exist to measure time. But what we experience is more than just the ticking of seconds. Perception refers to how our brain processes information received from the external world. Thus, time perception is essentially a mental “interpretation.”

How Does Our Brain Measure Time?

There is no “internal clock” in our brain. However, there are systems that process information related to time:

• The brainstem and basal ganglia are active in short-term time estimation, such as in reflexes like noticing a ball coming toward you and catching it.
• The prefrontal cortex and parietal lobe help us evaluate longer time intervals, such as thinking about how long a class lasted.
• Neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine influence time perception. Interestingly, these chemicals are also linked to our mood. Thus, emotions directly alter our sense of time.

Why Does Time Sometimes Speed Up and Sometimes Slow Down?

New Experiences Slow Down Time

When you visit a new place, learn something new, or engage in a different activity, your brain processes more data. As a result, time feels as if it has passed more “slowly.” For example, when you travel to a country for the first time, a few days may feel endlessly long.

Routines Speed Up Time

When you do the same things every day—walking the same route, drinking the same coffee, staring at the same screen—your brain no longer processes new information. You barely notice time passing. A week can vanish in an instant, and you might even say, “Where did this week go?”

Danger and Stress Moments Extend Time

When you feel fear or encounter a dangerous situation, your brain releases adrenaline and focuses intensely on the event. This causes you to perceive time as “slowed down.” This is why, during a car accident, you remember the moment as if it were in slow motion.

Do We Actually Feel Time?

The interesting part is this: We do not directly perceive time; we only sense the differences between events. Our brain does not count seconds one by one. Instead, it estimates “how long something lasted.” And these estimates are often misleading.

In one experiment, participants were played sounds lasting three seconds. However, depending on the tone or intensity of the sound, their perceived duration varied. Thus, it was not time itself but the content of the sound that altered perception.

Why Does Time Seem to Pass Faster as We Age?

When we were children, time seemed to pass much more slowly. Summer vacations, holiday mornings, the last day of school… all felt endless. But as we grow older, time appears to accelerate. The reason is simple: In childhood, everything is new. Therefore, we process far more information. As we age, everything becomes familiar. To the brain, these repetitions seem “insignificant,” and time “flies by.”

Dancing with Time: How Can We Change Our Perception?

The good news is that it is possible to consciously alter our perception of time. Here are a few suggestions:

• Learn new things: Even starting a new hobby can slow down your sense of time.
• Practice mindfulness: Staying present helps you appreciate the value of the moment.
• Keep a journal: It makes the passage of time feel more meaningful.
• Change your routines: Try a different route or a new flavor instead of your usual coffee every day.

Time Is Constant, Perception Is Flexible

Minutes, hours, and days may pass identically everywhere. But every person experiences time differently. As our brain interprets the external world, it plays its own game with time. That is why we sometimes say, “Time flowed like water,” and other times, “It felt as if time had stopped.”

Perhaps what matters is not merely “feeling” time, but living it. Every moment we truly live fully takes up a longer, more meaningful space in our minds. So try to experience today not as an ordinary day, but as a unique fragment of time. Because what truly matters is not how much time your brain perceives, but how you fill that time.

Where are you in time?