Chronostasis

Chronostasis (from Greek χρόνος, chrónos, 'time' and στάσις, stásis, 'standing') is a type of temporal illusion in which the first impression following the introduction of a new event or task-demand to the brain can appear to be extended in time.

[1] For example, chronostasis temporarily occurs when fixating on a target stimulus, immediately following a saccade (i.e., quick eye movement).

This effect can extend apparent durations by up to half a second and is consistent with the idea that the visual system models events prior to perception.

Because research into the neurology associated with visual processing is ongoing, there is renewed debate regarding the exact timing of changes in perception that lead to chronostasis.

[8] However, below is a description of the general series of events that lead to chronostasis, using the example of a student looking up from his desk toward a clock in the classroom.

[13] This connection supports the assertion that overestimation occurs in order to fill in the length of time omitted by saccadic masking.

This led researchers to question whether the movement of the eyes or simply the shift of the observer's attention towards the second stimulus initiated saccadic masking.

However, this relationship between attention and perception in the context of chronostasis is often difficult to measure and may be biased in a laboratory setting.

Through experimentation, researchers found that the occurrence of chronostasis in the presence of a moving stimulus was dependent on the awareness of the subject.

In regard to frequency, the occurrence of many, similar events can exaggerate duration overestimation and makes the effects of chronostasis more severe.

Investigation using various imaging techniques has shown that repetitive firing of the same cortical neurons cause them to be suppressed over time.