Apparent time interval of visual stimuli is compressed during fast hand movement

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 10; no. 4; p. e0124901
• Main Authors: Yokosaka, Takumi, Kuroki, Scinob, Nishida, Shin'ya, Watanabe, Junji
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 08.04.2015; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Adult; Attention; Brain stimulation; Compression; Eye movements; Eye Movements - physiology; Female; Hand - physiology; Humans; Male; Movement - physiology; Photic Stimulation; Physiological aspects; Psychomotor Performance - physiology; Temporal perception; Time compression; Time Factors; Time perception; Time Perception - physiology; Visual perception; Visual Perception - physiology; Visual stimuli; Japan
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0124901

The influence of body movements on visual time perception is receiving increased attention. Past studies showed apparent expansion of visual time before and after the execution of hand movements and apparent compression of visual time during the execution of eye movements. Here we examined whether the estimation of sub-second time intervals between visual events is expanded, compressed, or unaffected during the execution of hand movements. The results show that hand movements, at least the fast ones, reduced the apparent time interval between visual events. A control experiment indicated that the apparent time compression was not produced by the participants' involuntary eye movements during the hand movements. These results, together with earlier findings, suggest hand movement can change apparent visual time either in a compressive way or in an expansive way, depending on the relative timing between the hand movement and visual stimulus.