Abstract

Human time perception is malleable and subject to many biases. For example, it has repeatedly been shown that stimuli that are physically intense or that are unexpected seem to last longer. Two hypotheses have been proposed to account for such biases: one states that these temporal illusions are the result of heightened arousal which speeds up neural clock dynamics, whereas the alternative magnitude coding account states that the magnitude of sensory responses causally modulates perceived durations. Common experimental paradigms used to study temporal biases can not dissociate between these accounts, as arousal and sensory magnitude covary and modulate each other. Here, we present two temporal discrimination experiments where flashing stimuli demarcated the start and end of a to-be-timed interval. These stimuli could either be in the same or in a different location, which led to different sensory responses due to neural repetition suppression. Crucially, changes and repetitions were fully predictable, allowing us to explore effects of sensory response magnitude without changes in arousal or surprise. Intervals with changing markers were perceived as lasting longer than those with repeating markers. We measured EEG (Experiment 1) and pupil size (Experiment 2), and found that temporal perception related to changes in event-related potentials (P2) and pupil constriction, both of which have been related to responses in the sensory cortex. Conversely, correlates of surprise and arousal (P3 amplitude and pupil dilation) were unaffected by stimulus repetitions and changes. These results demonstrate that sensory magnitude affects time perception even under constant levels of arousal.