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Why Does Cannabis Slow
Down Our Time Perception?
Adam Hoffman
Cannabis
consumers may experience distortions in their perception of time, often
reporting how minutes can feel like they stretch to hours on end — an unsettling
experience, to say the least.
But
to what degree is this a scientifically proven phenomenon?
Researchers
have been curious about this question as well, and have conducted several
investigations over the years probing cannabis’ strange time-altering
properties.
Many
of these experiments have corroborated individual reports that time slows down
while high, though this has largely been on the scale of seconds or minutes,
not hours.
Research
on Marijuana and Time Perception
“One of the most commonly reported effects of cannabis
by users is to distort the perception of time,” says Zerrin Atakan, a London-based psychiatrist who
surveyed all known studies of cannabis and time distortion in 2012.
“Our review of papers on the topic showed that 70% of
studies found that users experienced over-estimation of time. In other words,
users felt using cannabis made them feel as if the time was longer than the
actual time.”
Yet,
many of these studies have been rife with limitations — small sample sizes,
failure to consider the effects of previous cannabis exposure, and use of
delivery methods such as inhalation and oral administration that produce wide
variation in THC’s effects over time, to name a few.
Later
that year, a team at Yale School of Medicine sought to address these
shortcomings and clear the smoke surrounding the connection between cannabis
and time tripping.
“I was fascinated by the observation that some drugs
can distort the experience of passing time, and that the phenomenon was not
well understood,” says Deepak
D’Souza, a professor of psychiatry at Yale and leader of the investigation.
“I was particularly intrigued by the observation that
in some individuals who found the effects of cannabis unpleasant and also
experienced time dilation, the overall experience was even more unpleasant.”
In
their study, 44 individuals who had varied experience with marijuana were
brought into the lab and asked to complete two time perception tests before,
during, and after either a THC dosage ranging from 0.015 mg/kg to 0.05 mg/kg
(delivered through an IV) or a 0 mg/kg placebo.
In
the first test, called the time estimation task, participants were repeatedly
asked to approximate how much time had passed (ranging from 5 to 30 seconds)
while they completed a distraction task that prevented them from actively
counting to themselves (e.g. count the number of “B’s” that appear amongst a
random assortment of letters on a computer screen).
In
the second test, called the time production task, participants were given the
same distracting assignment, but had to hold a computer key down to produce a
given amount of time.
The
results showed that participants who were high overestimated time by as much as
25 percent and underproduced time by up to 15 percent when compared with their
sober baseline levels.
Meanwhile,
those who received a placebo showed no significant difference in time
estimation or production as compared with their own baseline levels.
“Marijuana dilates time — that is, five minutes is
experienced as ten minutes,” says
D’Souza.
“So, the subjective experience is that time is passing
slowly — but that feeling can only occur if the internal clock is speeded up.”
In
summary, those with THC in their system experienced a speeding up of their
internal, subjective time — making them feel as if external, objective time
passed more slowly.
After
they sobered up, however, these effects disappeared.
These
clock-accelerating effects of THC have also been mirrored in animal
experiments.
In
a 2001 study, for example, rats who were given chemicals that activated their
cannabinoid receptors showed time underproduction similar to behavior seen in
humans, while rodents that received a chemical blocking these receptors showed
time overproduction.
Similar
results have been observed in monkeys, as well.
What
Factors Influence Time Dilation?
How
exactly does cannabis press the accelerator on our internal clocks?
“This is quite a mystery,” and any hypotheses about a precise mechanism are
speculative, says D’Souza.
However,
previous studies have shown that a brain network called the
thalamo-cortico-striatal circuit is integral to our perception of time.
This
collection of brain areas is also known to contain a large number of
cannabinoid receptors.
So,
when THC from cannabis floods the brain, it could disrupt the normal
functioning of these receptors, resulting in distorted time perception.
Do
these effects vary based on how frequently you consume cannabis?
Further
analyses from D’Souza and his team revealed that these time-distorting effects
were particularly strong amongst those who rarely consumed, with medium and high
doses leading to temporal overestimation and all doses resulting in temporal
underproduction.
Meanwhile,
frequent consumers (2 to 3 times a week or more) experienced no significant
repercussions on their time perception regardless of the amount of THC in their
systems.
They
were immune to cannabis’s time-twisting effects.
The
researchers have offered several potential explanations for these results.
Although
frequent users don’t develop a tolerance to the euphoric effects of THC,
previous studies have shown that regular use can blunt THC’s
perception-altering effects as well the sensitivity of our body’s receptors to
the chemical.
Thus,
those who use cannabis consistently may eventually develop a biological
tolerance to the drug’s effects on time perception.
Another
possibility is that regular users might have learned that cannabis tends to
have this effect on their sense of time and consequently “re-calibrated” their
internal clocks accordingly.
Yet,
an individual would likely have to spend more time under the influence than not
in order to produce these effects.
They
would also demonstrate abnormal timekeeping when sober, which the subjects in
the 2012 study did not show.
What
Implications Do These Effects Have?
But
if cannabis only warps time by a few seconds, what’s the big deal?
“Given that timing is everything, there is no action
or behavior which does not require precision of timing,” says Atakan.
“So, if timing is disrupted via cannabis use, this may
have important implications on normal functioning.”
“Many basic human behaviors rely on temporal judgments
in the seconds to minutes range,”
adds D’Souza.
“For example, deciding when to cross the street based
on perceptions of approaching traffic, following a beat in a musical
composition, or returning to the stove just prior to the tea kettle whistling.”
While
the distorting effects of cannabis may seem trivial and might just be used as a
creative (and potentially unpleasant) strategy to squeeze some extra time out
of your day, there could be significant hazards associated with a slightly
altered time perception.
A
disrupted internal clock while driving or operating heavy machinery, for
instance, might result in impaired decision-making that could have life or
death consequences.
Although
research has shed some light on the time-warping effects of cannabis, we are
still far from fully understanding its impact on time perception.
“There are not yet enough studies to provide more
detailed information on the topic,”
says Atakan.
“More research with robust methods is required to
reach conclusions about the precise effect of cannabis and its active compounds
on time perception.”
In
future studies, researchers hope to use advanced imaging technology to learn
more about how brain circuits involved in timekeeping are impacted by cannabis
and whether these distortion effects might be seen at the scale of milliseconds
or minutes.
But
that future could be a long way off…or it at least can seem to be if you’re
high.
Adam Hoffman is a freelance science writer living in Brooklyn. He
grew up in the Bay Area, where he developed a profound love of fog and tacos.
His work has appeared in numerous publications, including National Geographic,
Smithsonian Magazine, Health Magazine, and STAT News.
