A framework for uniting space and time in the mind and brain.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Science
• Philosophy of Mind
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Kantian philosophy posits that experience is structured by a priori concepts of space and time.
• Current understanding treats space and time as independent frameworks for knowledge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To argue that space can be reduced to time, establishing time as the singular a priori concept.
• To develop an ecologically motivated framework for understanding temporal discounting and its relation to spatial navigation.

Main Methods:

• Review of established temporal discounting models (exponential and hyperbolic).
• Development of an ecological account where hyperbolic discounting arises from exponential discounting and uncertainty.
• Application of this account to spatial navigation, integrating neurobiological and computational findings.

Main Results:

• Demonstration that spatial discounting can be explained through temporal discounting mechanisms.
• Substantiation of the reduction of space to time using evidence from cognitive processes and neural underpinnings.
• A unified model explaining intertemporal choices and spatial navigation.

Conclusions:

• Time serves as the fundamental a priori concept for structuring knowledge, encompassing spatial perception.
• The proposed framework offers novel insights into cognitive science and philosophy.
• This reduction has broad implications for understanding decision-making and perception across various disciplines.