In prospective time-estimation studies, viewing negatively-valence images in high arousal states was associated with over-estimated time perception, whereas viewing positive images under high arousal was associated with time underestimation 7. Previous research in healthy controls has revealed that an overestimation of time is associated with negative affect and high levels of arousal. Individuals with PTSD often report a slowing of time perception during their trauma 6, but whether time processing deficits persist in chronic PTSD remains unknown. This constellation of symptoms suggests there may be a dysregulation in temporal processing or time perception associated with PTSD. Dissociative symptoms can also be prominent in individuals with PTSD, and include a sense of derealisation and depersonalization 5. PTSD is characterized by intrusive memories, which are typically fragmented memories of the trauma frozen in time, cognitive deficits such as working memory (WM) impairments, information processing speed and attentional biases to threat, and cognitive and behavioural avoidance 4.
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder affecting approximately 6.8% of people at some time in their life (e.g., refs 1, 2. The evidence of time overestimation in PTSD suggests the potential relevance of this factor as a cognitive marker in assessing the neuropsychological profile of this clinical population. The finding of time overestimation in PTSD accords with previous reports of time overestimation during stressful experiences associated with fear and arousal, but extends findings to suggest it remains in chronic PTSD populations processing non-emotional stimuli. Finally, we found evidence that working memory and attention impairments were associated with time overestimation in PTSD. Moreover, we found that PTSD are more variable in the time estimation compared to the control group. Overall, our results indicate that PTSD patients overestimate the duration of the displayed stimuli. The data of 59 participants with PTSD and 62 healthy controls, collected from the BRID database, have been examined. We investigated the ability of a group of PTSD participants in estimating the duration of supra-second visual stimuli relative to healthy controls. Cognitive deficits in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and dissociative symptoms suggest there may be an underlying and persistent problem with temporal processing in PTSD, but this question has not been systematically examined.
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