Time perception
To understand the neural mechanisms of time perception, we combine psychophysical, behavioral, and computational approaches to address the relationship between the timing of perception and the timing of neural signals. We are currently engaged in experiments that explore temporal encoding, time warping, manipulations of the perception of causality, time perception in schizophrenia, and time perception in high-adrenaline situations. We use this data to explore how neural signals processed by different brain regions come together for a temporally unified picture of the world.
- For more about our time research, see coverage by Popular Science magazine, Los Angeles Times, Discovery Channel, PBS, BBC radio, or Discover Magazine. For extra credit in the time domain, do all six at once.
For a popular-science essay that lays out the mysteries of time perception, see my essay Brain Time (published in What's Next? Dispatches on the Future of Science. M. Brockman, Ed).
For a more detailed explanation of the how and why of our scientific approach, see our experimental questions.
From the Blog
-
The science of de- and re-humanization
Why do groups of people inflict violence on unarmed neighbors? (Germany, Rwanda, Darfur, Nanking....). Here's the neuroscience point of view.
-
David appointed Fellow with Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies
Posthumanism asks what happens when our technologies allow humans to enhance intellectual, physical, and psychological capacities beyond what biology can give us. Think bionics on crack.
-
James Holmes’ Brain: Some Initial Speculations
In the wake of the Aurora movie theater shooting, many people had the same questions: What kind of derangement is indicated by the horrific acts of James Holmes? What is wrong with his brain? How will his mental state play out in the courts?
-
The Brain and the Law
Interested in the intersection of the brain and the legal system? Watch a talk I delivered at the Royal Society for the Arts in London, entitled "The Brain and the Law".
