Bodily Rhythms Bias Temporal Decisions Through Dissociable Neural Processes
Abstract
Being able to judge time accurately is central to behavior. Yet, judgements of time are shaped by factors such as attention and arousal, and hence our physiology. We studied the relation between cardiac and respiratory states and categorical judgements of sub-second intervals in humans. We asked whether these states relate to specific biases in time judgements and how they reflect in neurophysiological (EEG) signals. Thirty participants categorized tones of 450 to 600 ms duration as short or long, while we recorded 128-channel EEG, ECG, and respiration. Participants' reaction times were linked to cardiac and respiratory rates as well as respiratory phase. Systematic biases in interval categorization were predicted by heart rate and respiration rate. The physiological variables were not predictive of response accuracy, hence reflecting biases in time judgments rather than being tied to sensory precision. We then used multivariate EEG analysis to dissect neurophysiological signals related to interval duration and participants’ choice and modelled the influence of the physiological states on these. The respiration phase was linked to multiple EEG signals during a trial, while heart rate was predictive of choice-related signals carried by EEG components shortly before the response. This shows that cardiorespiratory states are systematically associated with the transformation of temporal information into categorical decisions, supporting an embodied account of time perception in which time perception fluctuates with ongoing physiological states.
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BibTeX
@misc{najafabadi2026bodily,
title = {{Bodily Rhythms Bias Temporal Decisions Through Dissociable Neural Processes}},
author = {Dr. Amir Jahanian Najafabadi and Srishti Mittal and Kayser Christoph},
howpublished = {PsyArXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.31234/osf.io/5s4ng_v1},
url = {https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/5s4ng_v1/},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Bodily Rhythms Bias Temporal Decisions Through Dissociable Neural Processes
AU - Dr. Amir Jahanian Najafabadi
AU - Srishti Mittal
AU - Kayser Christoph
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/26
PB - PsyArXiv
DO - 10.31234/osf.io/5s4ng_v1
UR - https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/5s4ng_v1/
AB - Being able to judge time accurately is central to behavior. Yet, judgements of time are shaped by factors such as attention and arousal, and hence our physiology. We studied the relation between cardiac and respiratory states and categorical judgements of sub-second intervals in humans. We asked whether these states relate to specific biases in time judgements and how they reflect in neurophysiological (EEG) signals. Thirty participants categorized tones of 450 to 600 ms duration as short or long, while we recorded 128-channel EEG, ECG, and respiration. Participants' reaction times were linked to cardiac and respiratory rates as well as respiratory phase. Systematic biases in interval categorization were predicted by heart rate and respiration rate. The physiological variables were not predictive of response accuracy, hence reflecting biases in time judgments rather than being tied to sensory precision. We then used multivariate EEG analysis to dissect neurophysiological signals related to interval duration and participants’ choice and modelled the influence of the physiological states on these. The respiration phase was linked to multiple EEG signals during a trial, while heart rate was predictive of choice-related signals carried by EEG components shortly before the response. This shows that cardiorespiratory states are systematically associated with the transformation of temporal information into categorical decisions, supporting an embodied account of time perception in which time perception fluctuates with ongoing physiological states.
ER -