Levels of human timing systems

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The human timing machine has been described as possessing at least 10 different timing systems that vary according to the length of time perception processed (click here for prior post). Of the 10 different systems, the focus of this blog has been on the fastest (lowest in the timing hierarchy) timing systems...mental timing at the level of milliseconds to seconds.

I just found another table in an article that puts this in perspective (see above). The neural rhythm, in this table, is the focus of this blog. As you can see, this is just one level of the complex timing systems that govern human behavior. Click here if you want to see the source article.

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, neuropsychology, neurology, mental timing, interval timing, circadian rhythms, rhythm, brain clock

Time to think. When to think. Our 24 hour clock

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When do you think the best...and why? I started skimming the article below and quickly realized that it was more than I wanted to know about the circadian pacemaker. Maybe I was trying to read it at a time when my cognitive processes where not functioning at their optimal level (due to my circadian clock).

As noted in prior posts, research has suggested that human beings have multiple timing systems that are active over more than 10 orders of magnitude. At the top is the 24 hour circadian pacemaker/oscillator system, a level far removed from the focus of IQ's Brain Clock on interval and milisecond timing systems. However, the title of this article grabbed my attention...which quickly wanned....zzzzzzzzzzzzz....I need a nap (this is not a reflection on the scholarly merits of the article...just my capacity to sustain interest, arousal, motivation, etc. to read the digest it.)

However, I did find a very nice conceptual figure (and I love conceptual model figures) the authors used to organize their literature review re: cognitive functions impacted by our circadian rhythms. The figure is above (double click to enlarge).

I decided to make this article available to readers in hopes that someone may take the time to read it and summarize it in layman's terms. If anyone would like to make a guest post re: this article, let me know via the "comment" feature. Maybe my fellow blogger at "A blog around the clock" might eventually post something regarding this article (if he has not already).

• Schmidt, C. & Collette, F. (2007). A time to think: Circadian rhythms in human cognition. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 2007, 24(7),755–789 (click here)

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, neuropsychology, neuroscience, circadian, brain clock, interval timing, sleep, cognitive performance

New timing blog - circadian emphasis

Bingo.

This afternoon I discovered another blog that covers topics related to the IQ Brain Clock blog (the blog you are reading). The blog is called "A blog around the clock" with a specific focus on human timing at the level of circadian rhythms (see prior post for the placement of circadian rhythms in the hierarchy of scales of human time perception).

As soon as I'm done with this post I'll be adding this blog to the IQ Brain Clock blog roll. Keep on ticking.......

Technorati Tags: psychology, neuropsychology, educational psychology, school psychology, mental timing, time perception, temporal, brain clock, interval timing, circadian, intelligence, cognition

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Time is fundamental dimension of life: Interval and milisecond mental timing

I'm now convinced, after considerable reading of psychological and neuroscience research the past few years, that Buhusi and Meck (2005) are correct (and they are not the first to make this obvious statement) that "time is a fundamental dimension" of life. I must confess that, as an applied psychometrican, I've failed to appreciate the importance of timing and temporal cognitive processes in my measurement/assessment work to date. I hope, via this blog, to make up some ground.

In their October 2005 article in Nature Reviews: Neuroscience (What makes us tick? Functional and nural mechanisms of interval timing), the authors present a very interesting figure (that represents a compilation of animal and human studies) that suggests that, in order "to deal with time, organisms have developed multiple systems that are active over more than 10 orders of magnitude with varying degrees of precision." A larger version of this excellent figure can be viewed by clicking here.

As can be seen in the figure, three general classes of timing systems, that are associated with different behaviors, brain structures, and brain mechanisms, have been identified. The three systems are labled circadian, interval, and milisecond timing. The later two (interval and milisecond) are the two systems of particular interest to the IQ Brain Clock blog, as they appear most involved in empirical and theoretical explanations related to cognitive/intellectual functioning, my primary area of interest (see IQs Corner). Brief defintions (from Buhusi and Meck, 2005) follow below

• Interval timing: Perception, estimation and discrimination of durations in the range of seconds-to-minutes- to-hours.
• Milisecond timing: Perception, estimation and discrimination of durations in the sub-second range.
  

More to come.

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, cognition, school psychology, neuropsychology, neuroscience, neurology, intelligence, IQ, interval timing, mental timing, brain timing, master clock, brain clock, circadian, IQ Brain Clock.temporal tracking, temporal processing

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