Scientists have discovered that time "slows down" by 20% during running

Scientists from the Italian Institute of Technology discovered that people experience a slowing of time while running. The reason for this effect is not related to physical exertion, but rather to the mental efforts needed to control movements. The research results are published in the journal Scientific Reports.

According to BAKU.WS with reference to Scientific Reports (SciRep), the perception of time rarely matches the readings of clocks and can be distorted in everyday life. Previously, scientists noted that physical activity - from walking to cycling - affects the sense of duration of events, however, it remained unclear whether this was due to physiological reactions or attention load.

To determine the role of the cognitive factor, researchers conducted an experiment involving 22 young volunteers. Participants were asked to memorize a two-second visual stimulus and then evaluate the duration of other stimuli under different conditions.

The experiment included four scenarios: standing position, running on a treadmill with an intensity of about 80% of maximum heart rate, walking backward, and performing an additional visual memory task while standing. Heart rate was recorded to assess physical exertion.

The results showed that in conditions requiring increased attention, participants overestimated the duration of stimuli compared to the baseline state. While running, a 1.8-second interval was perceived as two seconds - time "stretched" by almost 9%. When walking backward and performing the dual task, the distortion was about 7%.

This effect did not depend on heart rate: despite the higher physical load during running, the degree of time distortion remained approximately the same. This confirms that the key role is played by cognitive load, not physiological stress.