Optokinetic stimulation affects temporal estimation in healthy humans
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Published on: August 22, 2025
Carmelo Mario Vicario1, Carlo Caltagirone, Massimiliano Oliveri
1Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Edificio 15, 90100 Palermo, Italy.
Abstract:
The representation of time and space are closely linked in the cognitive system. Optokinetic stimulation modulates spatial attention in healthy subjects and patients with spatial neglect. In order to evaluate whether optokinetic stimulation could influence time perception, a group of healthy subjects performed "time-comparison" tasks of sub- and supra-second intervals before and after leftward or rightward optokinetic stimulation. Subjective time perception was biased by the direction of optokinetic stimulation. Rightward optokinetic stimulation induced an overestimation of time perception compared with baseline and leftward optokinetic stimulation. These results indicate a directional bias in time perception induced by manipulation of spatial attention and could argue for a mental linear representation of time intervals.
