Finally, a February. Or, for some others, January 74th. In fact, most do not believe that January is over and there is a reason why it is the longest month of the year even though it has 31 days as many others.
But how can one explain that a month with 31 days lasts longer than another month with 31 days. Perception of time is a concept that is difficult to explain. William Skylark, a researcher currently focused on the subject, says that "mental time is a volatile measure of physical duration."
Each of us perceives time differently and is influenced by a variety of factors.
Stimulants, like caffeine, make it seem as time goes by. While scary movies, make time pass slowly.
We judge the seconds through the internal clock. It is believed that this clock is located in an area of the brain called the striatum, but researchers are looking to see if other areas (especially the hippocampus) have parallel clocks.
January, of course, follows one of the busiest months of the year. December too has 31 days, but it's packed with events you can hardly wait for and just passed.
Zhenguang Cai, a doctoral student at University College London, says: "It is possible that returning to work after the Christmas holidays is followed by boredom (compared to the holidays) itself followed by the idea that time is slower in January."
January on the other hand, is just work. And this seems to be the most significant factor. When you have fun, time passes quickly. When working, slowly.
This phenomenon is explained by the dopamine clock hypothesis that high dopamine levels - a neurotransmitter related to motivation and reward - speed up the internal clock, making us think that time is passing faster. Studies in mice have shown that this hypothesis holds. However, when different areas of the brain are observed, complications arise, so further studies are needed.
A 2010 study gathered 37 college students and asked them to underline the words in double letters in a long text. Some students took 20 minutes, some took five. However, the researchers were told they had spent 10 minutes underlining.
Students were then asked to judge the duration of the event that belonged to the past. So do we when we say that January has lasted an eternity. We go back a period of time and judge how much we think or feel it has lasted. We weren't really counting. So judgment depends on memory and not on the internal clock.
Study participants who took 5 minutes to highlight said time passed quickly. Those who took 20 minutes said the time was slowly over. No group doubted the researchers who were told they had spent 10 minutes. People are not very capable of determining the duration of an event.
Also, the lack of light affects this phenomenon. Even though the days are getting longer, we seem to be getting shorter. This gives you the idea that the day is over. It seems like more time has passed than it really did.
In 1992, Professor Dan Zakay said it seems like time slows down when the clock is very important and the interval is uncertain. Or in other words, when he doesn't know the end of something. For example, you are stuck in traffic on the way to the airport.
In January, we are very time-conscious because we try to go to the gym or work every day. Unlike the last months of the year, no holidays are expected and summer is so far away.
In fact, when we talk about the eternity of January, we just make it last longer. The way we perceive time, at least for long periods, reflects the way we feel.
Source: New Statesman
