Re:'Time Cells' Discovered in Human Brains
by yesenadam on Friday October 30, 2020 @10:04AM
(#24942282)
Yeah, does seem more likely it's my brain knowing the time fairly accurately from the early morning light levels, bird song, traffic noises, temperature, smells in the air etc, and other cues I'm not consciously aware of, than that I have a timer, accurate to a few minutes over 9 or 10 hours, in my body.
A similar phenomenon occurs on public transit-- waking up at (or just before) your stop. I found that if I've taken the trip at least once, I can wake up pretty much exactly when I need to. Nearly every other frequent commuter I've discussed this with has a similar experience.
I used to believe it was related to subtle audio/visual cues while unconscious, but it might just be a function of a sense of time.