Scientists just discovered the real reason why time flies when you’re older

Remember when summer vacations felt like they lasted forever?

Those endless childhood days are long gone for most of us.

And scientists just discovered the real reason why time flies when you’re older — and it’s all happening inside your brain.

Brain scans reveal surprising pattern in older adults

Researchers got their hands on brain scans from 577 people who watched the same eight-minute clip from an old Alfred Hitchcock show while hooked up to functional MRI machines.¹

The participants ranged from 18 to 88 years old, giving scientists a perfect window into how aging affects the brain’s experience of time.²

What they found was remarkable.

Older adults’ brains shifted between different activity states less frequently than younger people watching the exact same footage.³ Their brain patterns stayed stable for longer periods, meaning they were essentially processing fewer distinct "events" during that eight-minute clip.⁴

The younger your brain, the more transitions it makes between different activity states while watching events unfold.⁵

Your brain is logging fewer snapshots of life

Here’s what’s really happening as you age.

The brain divides ongoing experiences into discrete moments — like taking mental snapshots.⁶ When you’re young, your brain snaps more pictures per minute, creating a rich tapestry of memories that make time feel expansive.⁷

But as you get older, neural dedifferentiation kicks in.⁸

This is where different areas of your brain become less specialized and more generalized in what they respond to.⁹ Face-selective regions that used to fire specifically for faces start lighting up for other objects too.¹⁰

The result? Your brain has a harder time recognizing where one event ends and another begins.¹¹

"This suggests that longer neural states within the same period may contribute to older adults experiencing time as passing more quickly," the researchers wrote.¹²

The Aristotle principle explains everything

This finding connects to an idea dating back to ancient Greece.

Aristotle argued that the more notable events you experience in a given timeframe, the longer it subjectively seems.¹³

If your brain is logging fewer distinct "events" as you age — fewer transitions between neural states — then those hours, days, and years compress in your memory.¹⁴

A year that once felt endless now zips by in what feels like weeks.

The data backs this up across multiple age ranges.¹⁵ This isn’t just about being 80 versus 20 — the pattern shows up consistently as people move through their 30s, 40s, 50s, and beyond.¹⁶

Younger brains process more information per unit of time, creating richer memories and a slower subjective experience of time passing.¹⁷

There’s also a mathematical component at play

Neuroscientists aren’t the only ones studying this phenomenon.

Joanna Szadura, a linguist who studies how language shapes time perception, points out that we all operate on two different time scales.¹⁸

Society measures time linearly — hours, days, years ticking by at the same rate for everyone.¹⁹

But your internal clock follows logarithmic patterns.²⁰

A single year represents 20% of a five-year-old’s entire life experience so far.²¹ For a 50-year-old, that same year is only 2% of their life.²²

This proportional relationship means each passing year feels shorter because it represents a smaller fraction of your total existence.²³

Combined with fewer neural transitions, the acceleration becomes even more pronounced.

Your routine is stealing your time

The brain explanation only tells part of the story.

Research tracking people during holiday seasons found something fascinating about daily habits.²⁴

People who stuck to predictable routines felt like Christmas or Ramadan arrived sooner every year.²⁵ Those who introduced new activities into their lives reported a slower march toward the festivities.²⁶

Novelty stretches time.²⁷ Routine compresses it.²⁸

When you repeat the same commute, eat the same meals, watch the same shows, your brain goes on autopilot.²⁹ It’s not creating distinct memories because nothing stands out as worth encoding.³⁰

Children experience time differently partly because everything is new to them — new lessons at school, new friends, new places to explore.³¹ Every day brings experiences their brains haven’t catalogued before.³²

Adults settle into patterns.³³ The weeks blur together because Monday looks like every other Monday.³⁴

You can fight back against accelerating time

The good news? You’re not powerless against this brain-based time compression.

Linda Geerligs, one of the study’s researchers, says engaging with novelty can make time feel more expansive in retrospect.³⁵

You don’t need a complete life overhaul. Learning new skills, traveling somewhere unfamiliar, trying activities you’ve never done — these force your brain to create distinct memories instead of recycling the same ones over and over.

Researchers tracking "super-agers" — older adults who stay mentally sharp — found something interesting.³⁶ These folks keep learning new skills and stay socially engaged.³⁷ Their perception of time holds up better than peers who stick to the same routines year after year.

Even small changes make a difference.³⁸

Drive a different route to work.³⁹ Visit that museum you keep meaning to check out.⁴⁰ Try a new restaurant instead of your usual Friday night spot.⁴¹ Download that language app you’ve been thinking about.⁴²

When your brain has to pay attention to something new, it takes more mental snapshots.⁴³ More snapshots mean time feels fuller when you look back.

Social connection makes time feel fuller

Here’s something the National Institute on Aging has been tracking — meaningful social interactions change how you experience time.⁴⁴

When you’re having real conversations with friends or family, your brain treats those as memorable events worth encoding.⁴⁵ Activities you share with others feel more vivid in memory than solo routines.⁴⁶

The Institute recommends daily connection time — in person, by phone, video chat, whatever works.⁴⁷ Those regular touchpoints give your brain the distinct markers it needs to prevent weeks from blending together.⁴⁸

Older adults who maintain active social lives consistently report that time feels like it moves at a more normal pace.⁴⁹ Compare that to isolated seniors whose days become an indistinguishable blur.⁵⁰ The pattern isn’t subtle.

The deeper biological mechanisms

What’s actually happening in aging brains to cause this?

Scientists have pinpointed several biological factors driving the loss of neural specificity.⁵¹

Two brain chemical systems matter most — dopamine and GABA.⁵² Dopamine helps different brain regions specialize in specific tasks.⁵³ GABA provides the inhibitory control that keeps those regions focused.⁵⁴

As both decline with age, brain areas that used to respond selectively — faces here, landscapes there, movement over there — start firing more broadly at everything.⁵⁴ The specificity breaks down.

This happens throughout the brain.⁵⁵ Visual processing loses its edge. Motor control becomes less precise. Memory systems get fuzzier. Cognitive functions across the board show the same pattern.

The research shows a clear link between this loss of neural distinctiveness and declining performance on cognitive tests.⁵⁶ Your brain isn’t broken — it’s just becoming less specialized at what it does.

What this means for your daily life

This isn’t just interesting neuroscience trivia.

How you structure your days and plan your future actually matters.⁵⁷

Want years to feel longer when you look back? You have to actively push back against routine.⁵⁸ That doesn’t mean turning your life upside down or making every day chaotic.⁵⁹ But it does mean consciously injecting novelty into your regular patterns.⁶⁰

Sign up for that cooking class you keep thinking about.⁶¹ Dust off the hobby you abandoned decades ago.⁶² Make plans with people you haven’t seen in years.⁶³

Your brain needs fresh inputs — new information to process, different experiences to encode, challenges it hasn’t tackled before.⁶⁴ Without those, the months just keep accelerating while you’re left wondering where the time went.⁶⁵

The emotional dimension matters too

Emotions change how you experience time passing.⁶⁶

Both positive and negative emotions affect your perception.⁶⁷ Activities that bring genuine joy create stronger, more vivid memories than just going through the motions.⁶⁸ Studies found that older adults with higher emotional well-being showed better temporal processing.⁶⁹

Here’s what that means.⁷⁰ Filling your time with activities that actually matter to you does more than create memories.⁷¹ It changes how your brain processes time itself.

Sleep plays a bigger role than you think

Your perception of time doesn’t just depend on what happens during your waking hours.⁷²

Research shows that sleep quality dramatically affects temporal processing.⁷³ When neurons are well-rested, they fire faster, notice more details, and form clearer memories.⁷⁴

Athletes who compete after poor sleep report that matches feel like they end moments after starting.⁷⁵ Students pulling all-nighters experience exams as brief blurs.⁷⁶

Chronic sleep deprivation compounds this effect day after day, trimming mental snapshots continuously.⁷⁷

Getting seven to nine hours of quality sleep helps maintain the neural efficiency that keeps time from racing past you.⁷⁸

The broader implications for aging

This research challenges common assumptions about cognitive aging.⁷⁹

For years, scientists believed time perception changes were inevitable consequences of getting older.⁸⁰

But newer evidence suggests that maintaining cognitive health — through learning, social engagement, physical exercise, and quality sleep — can preserve more youthful time perception even in advanced age.⁸¹

The "super-agers" who maintain sharper cognitive function don’t experience the same dramatic time acceleration as their peers.⁸²

This raises an important question about what we consider normal aging versus what’s actually preventable decline.⁸³

Maybe time doesn’t have to fly as you get older.⁸⁴

Maybe it only feels that way when you stop challenging your brain with new experiences.⁸⁵

¹ Slava Amanatski, "New study reveals why time seems to move faster the older we get," Live Science, October 21, 2025.

² Ibid.

³ Ibid.

⁴ Ibid.

⁵ Ibid.

⁶ Ibid.

⁷ Steve Taylor, "Why We Feel Time Speed Up as We Start to Get Older," Psychology Today, September 11, 2024.

⁸ Amanatski, "New study reveals why time seems to move faster."

⁹ Ibid.

¹⁰ Ibid.

¹¹ Ibid.

¹² Ibid.

¹³ Ibid.

¹⁴ Ibid.

¹⁵ Ibid.

¹⁶ Ibid.

¹⁷ Taylor, "Why We Feel Time Speed Up."

¹⁸ Amanatski, "New study reveals why time seems to move faster."

¹⁹ Ibid.

²⁰ Ibid.

²¹ Ibid.

²² Ibid.

²³ "Has aging changed your perception of time?," Carenity, December 27, 2024.

²⁴ Ibid.

²⁵ Ibid.

²⁶ Ibid.

²⁷ Taylor, "Why We Feel Time Speed Up."

²⁸ Ibid.

²⁹ Ibid.

³⁰ Ibid.

³¹ "Why Time Flies By Faster As We Get Older," HuffPost, January 18, 2024.

³² Ibid.

³³ Ibid.

³⁴ Ibid.

³⁵ Amanatski, "New study reveals why time seems to move faster."

³⁶ "Why our perception of time changes as we age," Earth.com, July 6, 2025.

³⁷ Ibid.

³⁸ "Why our sense of time speeds up as we age," NBC News, November 26, 2018.

⁴¹ Ibid.

⁴² Ibid.

⁴³ Ibid.

⁴⁴ Ibid.

⁴⁵ Taylor, "Why We Feel Time Speed Up."

⁴⁶ "Why Does Time Fly as You Age?," University Hospitals, April 18, 2023.

⁴⁷ "Has aging changed your perception of time?," Carenity.

⁴⁸ Ibid.

⁴⁹ "Why Does Time Fly as You Age?," University Hospitals.

⁵⁰ Ibid.

⁵¹ Ibid.

⁵² Ibid.

⁵³ "Neural Dedifferentiation in the Aging Brain," Trends in Cognitive Sciences, June 4, 2019.

⁵⁴ Ibid.

⁵⁵ Ibid.

⁵⁶ Ibid.

⁵⁷ "Age-Related Neural Dedifferentiation in the Motor System," PLOS One, December 22, 2011.

⁵⁸ "The Relationship between Age, Neural Differentiation, and Memory Performance," Journal of Neuroscience, January 2, 2019.

⁵⁹ "Counting down while time flies," Current Opinion in Psychology, April 2019.

⁶⁰ "Why our sense of time speeds up," NBC News.

⁶¹ Ibid.

⁶² Ibid.

⁶³ Ibid.

⁶⁴ Ibid.

⁶⁵ Ibid.

⁶⁶ Taylor, "Why We Feel Time Speed Up."

⁶⁷ Ibid.

⁶⁸ "The effect of aging and emotions on time processing," PMC, 2023.

⁶⁹ Ibid.

⁷⁰ Ibid.

⁷¹ Ibid.

⁷² "Counting down while time flies," Current Opinion in Psychology.

⁷³ Ibid.

⁷⁴ "Why our perception of time changes," Earth.com.

⁷⁵ Ibid.

⁷⁶ Ibid.

⁷⁷ Ibid.

⁷⁸ Ibid.

⁷⁹ Ibid.

⁸⁰ Ibid.

⁸¹ "A Lifetime of Learning," Psychological Science Observer, October 26, 2021.

⁸² Ibid.

⁸³ "Back to school: Learning a new skill can slow cognitive aging," Harvard Health, April 27, 2016.

⁸⁴ "Why our perception of time changes," Earth.com.

⁸⁵ "A Lifetime of Learning," Psychological Science Observer.

⁸⁶ "Why our sense of time speeds up," NBC News.

⁸⁷ Ibid.