Cognitive Aging and Time Perception: Roles of Bayesian Optimization and Degeneracy

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychology
• Gerontology

Background:

• Age-related changes impact timing and time perception across various durations.
• Distinguishing direct timing deficits from indirect effects of attention and memory impairments is challenging.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review psychological and neurobiological mechanisms of age-related timing distortions.
• To explore potential interventions for mitigating age-related declines in time perception.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing literature on aging, attention, memory, and timing mechanisms.
• Discussion of neurobiological underpinnings, including dopamine-glutamate interactions in cortico-striatal circuits.
• Application of Bayesian optimization models to explain adaptive changes in time perception.

Main Results:

• Normal aging is linked to increased temporal uncertainty and reduced timing accuracy/precision.
• Impairments in attention and memory contribute to age-related timing deficits.
• Older adults may rely more on statistical inferences from multiple trials for temporal judgments.

Conclusions:

• Age-related timing declines may stem from neural noise and impaired cognitive functions.
• Interventions targeting attention, memory, or dopamine-glutamate systems could be beneficial.
• Neural network degeneracy may allow compensatory mechanisms for timing functions in older adults.