The Perception of Time

The Perception of Time – Michael Shadlen
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Videos from the event

  1. SPEAKER: C. Randy Gallistel, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Department of Psychology and Center for Cognitive Science, Rutgers, The State University of NJ
  2. SPEAKER:  David Laibson, Robert I. Goldman Professor of Economics and Chairman of the Department of Economics, Harvard University
  3. SPEAKER: Michael Shadlen, Professor of Neuroscience and HHMI Investigator, Columbia University
  4. PANEL DISCUSSION: Panel Discussion

Event information

February 22, 2016, Buell Hall, Columbia University

Most living things have evolved with an innate sense of the passing of time. Humans, and perhaps many other species, have the ability to estimate relatively short and long periods of time and can remember specific events in their lives in the context of time. How is time experienced and encoded in the brain, and how are memories created and kept on the spectrum of time? If we utilize both time and memory information to make predictions about the world, how does the degree of accuracy with which imagined future events can be located in time affect the coherence of the decisions that we make?

This seminar explores the fields of neuroscience, psychology, and economics to discuss what we know about how people and other animals are able to be aware of the passage of time, the relationship between time and memory, and the behavioral consequences of accuracy or inaccuracy in the perception of time.

Moderated by Daphna Shohamy, Associate Professor of Psychology, Columbia University.