A fragmentation of linear narrative which can sometimes be experienced as the elongation of perceived time. Temporal distortion can, be defined as the gap between how time passes (objectively) and how we experience it (subjectively).
Time Perception has been conceptualised according to theoretical models which posited a biological stopwatch in the brain which would slow and accelerate in line with our attention or arousal. Thus subjectively making Time appear to dilate or contract.
Functional MRI reveals that large networks of neural areas underlie time processing. These structures are likely affected by our experience of emotions which play a role in our perception of the flow of Time depending on how we feel.
Csikszentmihalyi famously coined the term “The Flow” to describe the experience of being so happily immersed in an activity that all distractions are shut out. A key feature of the The Flow experience is a distorted sense of Time — typically a feeling that time has passed faster than usual.
The sheer pursuit of rewards, from experiences to material goods, is an ingredient for temporal illusions.
Experiencing fear has shown to have an effect on our experience of Time given that threatening stimuli (the most innately disturbing forms of novelty) cause intense physiological reaction which can distort our internal sense of the passage of Time.