Perceived temporal acceleration across the lifespan: An integrative framework of mathematical, neurocognitive, emotional, and behavioral mechanisms
- 1College of Biomedical Sciences, Larkin University, Miami, FL, USA
- 2Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, Bradenton, FL, USA
- 3QHSLab, Inc., West Palm Beach, FL, USA
Abstract
The perception that time accelerates with advancing age represents one of the most universally reported yet poorly understood subjective experiences in human cognition. While the physical clock remains invariant, seconds, days, and years retain their objective duration; however, the felt experience of time undergoes profound transformation across the lifespan. This paper synthesizes evidence from multiple disciplines to propose that perceived temporal acceleration emerges from the convergence of five interacting mechanisms: 1) mathematical compression, wherein each successive year represents a diminishing fraction of total lived experience; 2) neurocognitive aging, characterized by reductions in novelty processing, dopaminergic signaling, memory encoding density, and temporal processing efficiency; 3) emotional salience, whereby meaningful events expand in retrospective memory while routine experiences contract; 4) attentional engagement, which modulates real-time temporal awareness; and 5) sociobehavioral stabilization, marked by increasing routine and fewer life transitions across adulthood. We critically evaluate the evidence supporting each mechanism, acknowledge contradictory findings and individual differences, and discuss methodological challenges inherent in studying lifespan changes in temporal experience. Clinical implications are explored across depression, anxiety, and neurodegenerative disorders, with attention to assessment approaches, functional impacts, and intervention strategies. Finally, we identify key priorities for future research, including the need for validated measures of subjective time compression, longitudinal study designs, and translational investigations linking neurobiological mechanisms to lived experience.
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BibTeX
@article{rizvi2026perceived,
title = {{Perceived temporal acceleration across the lifespan: An integrative framework of mathematical, neurocognitive, emotional, and behavioral mechanisms}},
author = {Syed Rizvi and Marcos Sanchez-Gonzalez and Erick Perez-Flores and Troy Grogan},
journal = {Journal of Preventive and Complementary Medicine},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.22034/jpcm.2026.581597.1323},
url = {https://doi.org/10.22034/jpcm.2026.581597.1323},
note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Perceived temporal acceleration across the lifespan: An integrative framework of mathematical, neurocognitive, emotional, and behavioral mechanisms
AU - Syed Rizvi
AU - Marcos Sanchez-Gonzalez
AU - Erick Perez-Flores
AU - Troy Grogan
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/25
JO - Journal of Preventive and Complementary Medicine
DO - 10.22034/jpcm.2026.581597.1323
UR - https://doi.org/10.22034/jpcm.2026.581597.1323
AB - The perception that time accelerates with advancing age represents one of the most universally reported yet poorly understood subjective experiences in human cognition. While the physical clock remains invariant, seconds, days, and years retain their objective duration; however, the felt experience of time undergoes profound transformation across the lifespan. This paper synthesizes evidence from multiple disciplines to propose that perceived temporal acceleration emerges from the convergence of five interacting mechanisms: 1) mathematical compression, wherein each successive year represents a diminishing fraction of total lived experience; 2) neurocognitive aging, characterized by reductions in novelty processing, dopaminergic signaling, memory encoding density, and temporal processing efficiency; 3) emotional salience, whereby meaningful events expand in retrospective memory while routine experiences contract; 4) attentional engagement, which modulates real-time temporal awareness; and 5) sociobehavioral stabilization, marked by increasing routine and fewer life transitions across adulthood. We critically evaluate the evidence supporting each mechanism, acknowledge contradictory findings and individual differences, and discuss methodological challenges inherent in studying lifespan changes in temporal experience. Clinical implications are explored across depression, anxiety, and neurodegenerative disorders, with attention to assessment approaches, functional impacts, and intervention strategies. Finally, we identify key priorities for future research, including the need for validated measures of subjective time compression, longitudinal study designs, and translational investigations linking neurobiological mechanisms to lived experience.
SN - 3041-9700
SN - 3041-9921
ER -