Time can be perceived depending on the space during virtual and physical active tool-use training in young and older adults

Amir Jahanian Najafabadi

Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Bielefeld University

Perceiving time is essential to our awareness of ourselves and our surroundings. However, time perception is subjective and can be influenced by factors such as movement—whether of objects or ourselves. Both philosophers and researchers have long observed that temporal and spatial information are deeply intertwined in our daily experiences. Laboratory tasks that attempt to separate these dimensions may not accurately reflect real-life situations, possibly because spatial, temporal, and other magnitudes share a common neural representation. Research suggests that our perception of time is flexible and influenced by the distance of a stimulus from our body. The space around us is divided into near-space, which is within our reach, and far-space, which lies beyond. The use of tools can expand our reach, effectively remapping far-space into near-space. While this remapping can occur quickly, its extent and duration depend on how frequently and how long the tool is used. If our perception of time is tied to spatial factors, then this remapping of space through tool use implies that our sense of time might also be altered by tool use. In my talk, I will present the key message of results of twenty-one experiments conducted in both physical and virtual environments and from younger and older adults, exploring how time perception varies with spatial location and how both physical and virtual tool use influence our experience of time. This discussion will shed light on the behavioral mechanisms underlying tool embodiment and its connections to space and time perception.

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