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
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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.
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Book extract from "The Brain: The Story of You" in the Financial Times
Our drive to come together into groups yields a survival advantage — but it has a dark side.
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Remembering a trail blazer - Francis Crick
Francis Crick, one of the premier biologists of the 20th century, passed away July 28, 2004, in San Diego. On his 88th birthday, I brought him chocolates and spent the day with him in his home in La Jolla.
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The Mystery of Expertise
To the extent that consciousness is useful, it is useful in small quantities, and for very particular kinds of tasks. It's easy to understand why you would not want to be consciously aware of the intricacies of your muscle movement, but this can be less intuitive when applied to your perceptions, thoughts, and beliefs, which are also final products of…
