CHRONOS: A brief assessment of temporal processing aspects

Processing temporal information is essential for daily living. Yet, temporal processing changes with healthy aging and is altered in many neuropsychiatric conditions. For these reasons, we have designed the Cognitive Health Ratings Of Neuropsychological Skills for temporal perception (CHRONOS), a 10-minute paper-and-pencil and/or online test assessing rhythms, duration processing, passage of time judgements (POTJ), and mental time travel (MTT). Analysis of the pooled paper-and-pencil and online samples (N=421) showed overestimation and underproduction of short durations. Then, Structural Equation Models on common items across test versions confirmed the structure of a single temporal cognition construct comprising four interrelated components. Lastly, temporal accuracy decreased with age, and both POTJ and MTT were associated with cognitive efficiency and subjective complaint, and more severe depressive and anxiety symptoms. This evidence highlights the need to bridge fundamental research on time cognition and clinical assessments to help the early detection of neurocognitive disorders.