Physics of auroral phenomena : proceedings of the 35th Annual seminar, Apatity, 28 Februaru – 02 March, 2012 / [ed. board: A. G. Yahnin, A. A. Mochalov]. - Апатиты : Издательство Кольского научного центра РАН, 2012. - 187 с. : ил., табл.

CHARACTERISTICS OF CHANGES IN DURATION OF SUBJECTIVE MINUTE AT DIFFERENT SPACE-AND-TIME CONDITIONS V.V. Ivanov, E.S. Gorshkov (St. Petersburg Branch o f the Institute o f Terrestrial Magnetism, Ionosphere and Radio Wave Propagation o f the Russian Academy o f Sciences, 199034 Saint Petersburg, Mendeleevskaya str., bid. 1, sl_iva@mail.ru) Duration of subjective minute (DSM) is a psychophysical index and an important component of the general process of space and time perception in humans. To estimate DSM we used the well-known test, which was performed in the following way: test person turned on the stopwatch, evenly, calmly, without pauses counted to 121-180 and then documented the completion time. The study of DSM registered in one individual during February 2001 - January 2002 (7-8 times a day, at average) at the polar station Vostok (Antarctica) demonstrated that the values vary in a wide range between 36 and 88 sec (daily average values - between 45 and 62 sec, See Fig.l). The distribution of values is normal. The variations of DSM during a day correspond to the day-night alternation: the highest values were registered from 3 to 7 a.m. (56-63 sec), while during the day they did not exceed 54-55 sec. Three local minimums (50-52 sec) were found - at 9 a.m., 1-3 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. Matching the daily average values of heart rate (HR, beat/min), respiratory rate ( RR , respiratory cycle/min) and DSM showed inverted correlations between them (r = -0.43 and r = -0.52), which became more distinct after averaging HR, RR and DSM over 5 spots (Fig.2, curves 1, 2 and 3, r = -0.79 and r = -0.68, respectively). The changes in daily average DSM values (Fig.2, curve 3) well agree with such a seasonal factor as alternation of polar day and night. Within the period including the polar night divide, DSM first grows from 47 to 55 sec and then decreases to 52-53 sec. As the Sun rises over the horizon and the polar day begins, DSM reaches its highest point of 59 sec. With the data being available on HR, RR and DSM registered before the individual’s staying in Antarctics (Sep 1st, 2000-Jan 28th, 2001) and after it (Jan 27л-1и1 6th, 2002), it was possible to do the similar analysis for these two periods. Matching the levels of HR, RR and DSM values, at which biological rhythms of HR and DSM become synchronized in the periods preceding, during and following the wintering, showed that rearranging HR and DSM levels during the intervals is largely caused by changes in cardiovascular activity defining cardiac rhythm and in psychophysical activity defining perception of time. In the period of wintering (compared to the preceding and following periods), cardiovascular system worked with more intensity, while psychophysical activity noticeably decreased. It is confirmed with average HR and RR values, which, during the wintering, grew up to 63.9 beat/min (compared to 55.6 and 59.2 beat/min) and 9.3 resp.cycle/min (compared to 8.2 and 8.4 resp.cycle/min), respectively, while DSM dropped to 53.3 sec (compared to 61 and 71.1 sec). Moreover, the parameters have similar values when the two rhythms are synchronized (Fig. 4). “P h y sic s o f A uroral P h en om en a ", Proc. X X X V A n n u al Sem in ar, A p a tity, p p . 1 6 8 - 1 7 1 , 2 0 1 2 © Kola Science Centre, Russian Academy o f Science, 2012 Polar Geophysical Institute 94 125 156 187 218 249 280 311 342 day number Fig. 1. Daily average fluctuations in duration of subjective minute (DSM) in the period of Jan 29, 2001-Jan 26, 2002 in the extreme conditions of Antarctica. 168