![]() Indeed, our biological time-sensitive mechanisms are literally carved into our biology and neurology on a molecular level – gifting us with a circadian clock, a biological neural clock system central in the study of chronobiology 2 that responds to external events such as the rise and fall of daylight, while others are tuned to internal biological and neurological processes measured by small timescales in minutes and fractions of seconds. The importance of time in human existence is “ancient history” as portrayed in Ecclesiastes 1 “… a time for every purpose under heaven …” This biblical celebration of cyclical time is marked by beginnings and endings of sequential and predictable recurring time phenomena in nature that determine human behavior and existence universally, while time concepts, woven into the fabric of all human languages, allow revisiting events no longer in existence or contemplating events that do not yet exist and may never exist. A discussion, directions, and a take-home message round out the article. This thematic review article aims to: 1) discuss the complexity of time concept and its underlying bio-neurological mechanisms, 2) elucidate difficulties children with ASD and those with ADHD exhibit in temporal development, and 3) demonstrate the use of a set of clinical tools in uncovering temporal competence and ecological executive function in two children with ASD, and a child with ADHD, using a clock drawing task and error analyses children’s time knowledge questionnaire a behavior rating parent questionnaire examining ecological executive function, and parent open-ended questions related to their children’s time difficulties. Time competence in children with atypical neurobiological development and high prevalence, as in autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and attention disorders (ADHD), is often compromised, calling for investigation of its function. It is often measured in children by clock drawings, a cognitive integrative skill with errors pointing to neuroanatomical differences impacting the integrity of executive function. ![]() Because it embodies the complexity of the time construct, it is central to instruction of time concept in primary education. Moreover, accurate time reading, a critical adaptive life-skill, is imperative for effective function in all societal activities. Nonetheless, subjective time requires anchoring to physical time which permeates our language, endeavors, and entire existence, a process hinging on time-related skills such as estimates and measures of passage and duration of time. However, time in human consciousness is not the time indicated by physical clocks: time is a subjective reality in our psychological makeup due to the nature of the temporal neural mechanisms and unique properties of physical time. Indeed, our time-sensitive mechanisms are literally carved into our biology and neurology on a molecular level, gifting us with neural clocks. The importance of time concept in human existence is “ancient history” celebrated in the biblical book Ecclesiastes.
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