How chronotype, sleep-wake cycle, subjective time experience influence retrospective, and prospective memory functioning

Fabbri, Marco; Martoni, Monica · 2025 · OpenAlex-citations

DOI: 10.3389/fcogn.2025.1683207

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Summary

This study investigates the interplay between circadian typology, sleep-wake cycle quality, subjective time perception, and memory functioning. Motivated by evidence that biological rhythms and temporal cognition share neural substrates and influence cognitive performance, the research aims to determine how chronotype and sleep disturbances relate to failures in retrospective and prospective memory, potentially mediated by subjective experiences of time pressure or expansion. The researchers conducted a cross-sectional study involving 666 participants (mean age 37.83 years; 73% female). Data were collected using standardized self-report instruments: the reduced Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (rMEQ) for chronotype, the Mini-Sleep Questionnaire (MSQ) for sleep-wake disturbances, the Prospective and Retrospective Memory Questionnaire (PRMQ) for memory failures, and the Time Awareness and Subjective Time Questionnaire (TASTQ) for subjective time perception. Additional ad hoc questions assessed sleep habits to calculate social jetlag. Statistical analyses included MANCOVA, partial correlations, stepwise linear regressions, and mediation models using Hayes’ PROCESS macro, controlling for age and gender. Results indicated that evening-types reported later sleep and wake times, more pronounced sleep-wake disturbances, greater memory lapses, and stronger experiences of time expansion or boredom. Correlational analyses revealed that both time pressure and time expansion/boredom were negatively associated with PRMQ scores, indicating increased memory errors. Regression models demonstrated that memory performance was predicted by wake-related factors, time pressure, and time expansion/boredom. Crucially, mediation models showed that eveningness was associated with greater wake problems, which were positively related to altered time perception (specifically time pressure and expansion/boredom). These altered temporal perceptions, in turn, predicted more frequent retrospective and prospective memory failures. The findings suggest that circadian typology, wake-related disturbances, and subjective time perception interactively contribute to memory performance. The study proposes a model linking biological rhythms and temporal experience to memory functioning, implying that attention and arousal mechanisms may mediate these effects. Specifically, eveningness appears to impact memory indirectly through its association with sleep-wake disruptions and subsequent alterations in the subjective experience of time. This highlights the importance of considering both physiological sleep parameters and psychological time perception when evaluating memory deficits in daily life.

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• time perception