Attention modulates subjective time perception across eye movements.

Abstract

Prior research has established that actions, such as eye movements, influence time perception. However, the relationship between pre-saccadic attention, which is often associated with eye movement, and subjective time perception is not explored. Our study examines the impact of pre-saccadic attention on the subjective experience of time during eye movements, particularly focusing on its influence on subjective time perception at the saccade target. Participants were presented with two clocks featuring spinning hands, positioned at distinct locations corresponding to fixation and the saccade target. They were required to report the perceived time of these clocks across the eye movements, enabling us to measure and compare both the perceived and actual timing at these specific clock locations. In Experiment 1, we observed that participants tended to report the timing of their eyes' arrival at the target location as occurring slightly ahead of the actual time. In contrast, in Experiment 2, when participants divert their attention to the fixation clock prior to the imperative saccade, this perceptual bias diminishes. These results indicate that subjective time perception is strongly impacted by attentional conditions across the two experiments. Together, these findings offer further evidence for the notion that stable time perception during eye movements is not solely an inherent property of the eye movement system but also encompasses other cognitive mechanisms, such as attention. STATEMENT OF RELEVANCE: While we often remain unaware of the frequent saccades (rapid eye movements) we make, they have a profound impact on our perception of the world and the flow of time. Nevertheless, the connection between pre-saccadic attention, often associated with eye movements, and our subjective perception of time remains largely unexplored. In our research, we investigated the relationship between attention and our subjective experience of time. Our findings revealed the crucial role of attention, serving as a bridge between the physical movements of our eyes and our internal sense of temporal continuity. In essence, although previous studies have demonstrated the impact of eye movements on time perception, our current study emphasizes the critical influence of attention during the preparatory phase of saccades on the subjective experience of time during eye movements.