<UN>©Deana B. Davalos & Jamie Opper, 2015 | doi 10.1163/9789004230699_005This is an open access chapter distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported (CC-BY-NC 3.0) License.*Colorado State University, USA.
chapter 4
Time Processing in Schizophrenia
Deana B. Davalos* and Jamie Opper*
Time is inside as well as outside of ourselves. Time is a perception. It is part of the outside world, but it is also a sensation immediately experienced in ourselves. We organize and crystalize the perception of time into the connotation of a continuous flowing time, which we measure by clocks, and we try to apply the same measures to the time experience in ourselves, to what we may call time sensation.... Time is an inherent part of the world of perception, outside and inside the body. (Schilder, 1936)
1. Introduction
Schilder (1936) described his conception of time in his paper, Psychopathology of Time, which addressed time perception and the idea that various types of psychopathology involved a disturbance in time perception. Schilder wrote the paper while at Bellevue Psychiatric Hospital and detailed a variety of disor-ders and the possible temporal distortion associated with each type of pathology. About schizophrenia, he quotes a patient who says, “I can’t orient myself in the world – I am not clear anymore...I continue to live in eternity. There is no hour, no noon, no night.... Time does not move. I am wavering between past and future.” Schilder’s observations of timing dysfunction in his schizophrenic patients led him to ask, “...why does the schizophrenic give up his time experience? What does time mean for him?” The questions regarding time perception and the role timing plays in schizophrenia continue to perplex researchers today. Our understanding of time processing in schizophrenia has developed over the years from a once rather simplistic view of temporal dysfunction to an elaborate organization of temporal deficits that span from simple sensory measures of timing to higher order processes. And while it has been argued for decades that time processing is disrupted in schizophrenia, the breadth of the implications stemming from those temporal deficits have grown to include areas of clinical symptomatology, social and emotional processing, language, to higher order cognitive processes.
Conceptually, our capacity to process time is viewed as an ability that plays a critical role in our perception of the world around us. Navon (1978) wrote that our perception of the world consists of a hierarchy of dimensions and that time is at the top of that hierarchy. The ability to process time has been associated with relatively basic tasks such as planning and sequencing and processing basic sensory input to higher order processes that are involved in athletic ability, driving, language, walking, and musical ability (Eagleman et al., 2005; Eagleman, 2009; Ferrandez et al., 2003; Macar et al., 2006; Mangels et al., 1998; Tracy et al., 1998). Given the widespread collection of behaviors, actions, and cognitive processes that appear to be influenced by timing, investigators have begun to speculate whether deficits in information processing and higher level cognitive processing that have been associated with dysexecutive syndrome, and schizophrenia specifically, may be in part due to temporal dysfunction (Macar and Vidal, 2009; Volz et al., 2001). And while time processing may not have a place in the scientific literature as extensive as other cognitive processes, such as attention, working memory, or inhibition, there are indicators that suggest that the magnitude of the importance of intact temporal processing is beginning to be understood. First, Head and colleagues (2008) have recently included time processing as one of the few possible “cognitive primitives” or what is described as basic neuropsychological processess that have broad influence on other cognitive functions, but cannot be separated into component processes themselves (Salthouse, 1985; Verhaeghen and Salthouse, 1997; Zacks and Hasher, 1994). While Head et al. have introduced the idea that time perception has a place in the hierarchy of cognitive processes alongside what have been viewed as fundamental cognitive capacities, such as inhibition and processing speed, there have been relatively few studies that can be used to support the argument. Cognitive primitives cannot, by definition, be separated into component processes and many of the current studies assessing time processing highlight the complexity of measuring temporal processing as most timing tasks generally involve some degree of attentional resources, decision making, and vigilance. Head’s proposal, nonetheless, highlights the fact that timing is now considered as being a foundational cognitive process that may be involved in widespread dysfunction. The idea that temporal processing may lead to some type of dysfunction highlights the second indicator that stresses the magnitude of the importance of intact time processing.
The scientific literature is rich with studies assessing clinical populations and how time processing may be at the root of clinical symptomatology and deficits associated with various disorders. While it is beyond the scope of this chapter to address all of the types of psychopathology associated with temporal processing, included in the list of clinical disorders and/or clinical features (...)