As people age, time seems to speed up, but it's not the passage of time that changes—it's our memory. New research explores why this happens.
Time perception changes with age
As people grow older, they often comment on how quickly time seems to pass, with phrases like "Another important birthday" or "When did we have our last class reunion?" According to the Berlin daily newspaper Tagesspiegel, this perception of time is influenced more by memory than by actual time passing.Cognitive decline affects memory encoding
Psychologist Marc Wittmann from the Institut für Grenzgebiete in der Psychologie und Psychohygiene (IGPP) surveyed nearly 500 people aged 14 to 94 about how they subjectively experienced the past ten years. He notes that cognitive abilities begin to decline around the age of 30, leading to fewer distinct memories being formed.Time feels different depending on perspective
Psychologists differentiate between prospective time, which is experienced in the moment, and retrospective time, which is reconstructed later. For example, a boring afternoon might feel endless when it happens but is quickly forgotten, while a vacation day filled with new experiences may feel short at the time but seems longer when remembered later.Routine reduces memory landmarks
According to the Event Segmentation Theory, the brain segments daily life into events similar to scenes in a movie. As people age, routines become more common, leading to a sense of "autopilot" with repeated activities, faces, and trips. This reduces the number of distinct transitions, making it harder for autobiographical memory to create clear reference points for time.
