Science & technology | Second sight

Memorable images make time pass more slowly

The effect could give our brains longer to process information

A woman is looking at a painting.
You must remember thisPhotograph: Panos PIctures/ Bjoern Steinz

TIME FAMOUSLY speeds up when you are having fun. But it slows down, it turns out, when one looks at something worth remembering. According to research published on April 22nd in Nature Human Behaviour, people’s sense of how fast time passes can be influenced by the memorability of the images in front of them. Scientists propose this effect could be a way for the brain to sneak in more processing time before a snap decision needs to be made.

This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “…and the seconds are crawling by”

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