title: Blood sugar level follows perceived time rather than actual time in people with type 2 diabetes.
abstract: The current study investigates whether perceived time has an effect on blood glucose level in people with type 2 diabetes. The hypothesis is that perceived time will have a greater influence over blood glucose level than actual time. Changes in blood glucose levels were measured in 46 participants with diabetes while they completed simple tasks during a 90-min period. Participants' perception of time was manipulated by having them refer to clocks that were either accurate or altered to run fast or slow. Blood glucose levels changed in accordance with how much time they believed had passed instead of how much time had actually passed. These results are an example of the influence psychological processes can directly exert on the body.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138;
authors.forename: Chanmo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138; Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 20123 Milan, Italy francesco.pagnini@unicatt.it.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1612-4211
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pagnini
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138;
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Reece
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138;
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Phillips
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138;
authors.forename: Ellen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Langer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis*; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000097:blood* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013998:Time Perception
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose
keywords: blood glucose levels; diabetes; expectations; false-clock paradigm; perceived time