[Paper Review] Bridging the neuroscience and physics of time

Dean V. Buonomano, Carlo Rovelli|arXiv (Cornell University)|Sep 5, 2021

Psychological and Temporal Perspectives Research17 citations

TL;DR

This paper bridges neuroscience and theoretical physics by exploring the nature of time through a dialogue between a neuroscientist (Dean Buonomano) and a theoretical physicist (Carlo Rovelli). They examine how subjective time perception in the brain aligns with time's fundamental role in physics, proposing that both fields may converge on a deeper understanding of time as relational and dynamic, rather than absolute.

ABSTRACT

As a neuroscientist and a theoretical physicist, both working on time, we have decided to open a direct dialogue to examine if the apparent discrepancies regarding the nature of time can be composed.

Motivation & Objective

• To resolve apparent discrepancies between neuroscience's subjective experience of time and physics' objective, geometric treatment of time.
• To explore whether the brain's temporal processing mechanisms can inform or align with foundational theories of time in physics.
• To investigate the possibility that time is not a fundamental background but emerges from relational processes in both brain function and quantum gravity.
• To foster interdisciplinary dialogue between neuroscience and theoretical physics on the nature of time.
• To propose a unified conceptual framework where time is relational and dynamic, emerging from physical and neural processes.

Proposed method

• Engaging in a direct, structured dialogue between a neuroscientist and a theoretical physicist to compare perspectives on time.
• Drawing on neuroscience findings on neural coding and temporal integration in the brain to contrast with foundational physics theories like quantum gravity.
• Applying Carlo Rovelli's relational quantum mechanics and the concept of time as relational to interpret neural time processing.
• Using phenomenological models of neural time perception to explore analogies with time in general relativity and quantum mechanics.
• Analyzing how the brain's internal clocks and memory systems may reflect a form of 'emergent time' similar to time in background-independent quantum gravity.
• Framing time not as a fixed parameter but as a relational, observer-dependent phenomenon in both neural and physical systems.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 How can the brain's subjective experience of time be reconciled with the objective, geometric treatment of time in physics?
• RQ2 To what extent do neural mechanisms of time perception reflect relational or dynamic properties of time found in quantum gravity?
• RQ3 Can the concept of time as relational in physics inform models of neural time processing and perception?
• RQ4 What are the shared structural or functional principles between neural timekeeping and fundamental physical theories of time?
• RQ5 Is there a common framework in which time emerges from relational processes in both neuroscience and physics?

Key findings

• The paper proposes that time in both neuroscience and physics may not be fundamental but rather emergent from relational processes.
• Neural time perception, based on dynamic, distributed coding, mirrors the relational nature of time in Rovelli's relational quantum mechanics.
• The brain's internal clocks and memory systems suggest a non-uniform, context-dependent experience of time, aligning with the idea of time as relational rather than absolute.
• The authors argue that both fields may benefit from adopting a relational view of time, where time is not a background but arises from interactions.
• Discrepancies between neuroscience and physics on time may stem from different levels of description rather than fundamental incompatibility.
• The dialogue suggests that a unified understanding of time may emerge from integrating neural dynamics with foundational physics theories of time.