Why Accidents Happen in Slow Motion

How brain chemistry and terror slow time down.

Maybe it’s happened to you. You trip on a stair, begin to fall, and suddenly, everything slows down. Your coffee cup floats away. The ground rises slowly. A friend watches you in alarm. Your arm reaches out to brace yourself.

It feels like many seconds have gone by. But in reality, it happened almost instantly.

The experience of slow motion is often reported when people suddenly fear significant injury or death. In these terrifying moments, our attention becomes instantly more focused. Our ability to memorize, make decisions, and to take actions are dramatically enhanced. People sometimes report feeling very calm and being able to take actions to help protect themselves.

Do humans have some kind of superior brain processing that allows us to see in slow motion? Turns out, it’s actually something far more interesting. It’s all about memory.

Instant-Replay in the Brain

During the day, our process of retaining memories mostly operates on idle. However, in frightening moments, a chemical called norepinephrine is triggered which allows the brain to rapidly memorize a massive amount of detail and every thought that might be useful. It’s the “instant-replay” of all this memorized information that makes it seem like time slowed down.

A “neural clock” is what appears to help organize this vast intake of memories. Identified in 2018 by Nobel laureate, Edvard Moser, the neural clock “time stamps” events and arranges them in sequence. This ‘making sense of time’ is different that the functions of better-known biological clocks like the circadian clock.

The more our brains are engaged, the more our perception of time slows down. It’s during extreme situations, that time can appear to crawl by. This is most likely an evolutionary “fight or flight” adaptation that improves our ability to react during a moment of danger.

Will Your Next Accident be in Slow-Mo?

Let’s hope not. The more dangerous an accident is, the more likely your experience of it may slow down. What’s more certain is that the next time you have an accident, it will likely be a fall. Unintentional falls are the leading cause of nonfatal injuries in America across every age group except 10-24. Falls send over two thousand Americans from all age groups each day to emergency rooms.

Few homes or work places can be made 100% fall proof. Take steps to minimize slips, trips, and falls in your home, especially for older adults. Step one: avoid using ladders. The most serious falls involve ladders at home or work. The greater the height the greater the injury. If you don’t already have it, make sure you have disability insurance coverage. Falls are the second leading cause for people being out of work.

How to Slow Down Time

In the sci-fi movie series, The Matrix, fight scenes were hypnotically depicted in extreme slow motion. With augmented skills, the characters’ increased awareness and reaction times allowed them to casually dodge bullets or slowly somersault in the air.

Unlike The Matrix, we can’t count on slow motion to save us while falling. However, by changing and slowing our daily routines, we create the opportunity to be more aware, and potentially, to be healthier and safer. Some basic ways to slow things down are to Do Less, Do More Self-Care, Do Something You Enjoy. By slowing life down from a dizzy blur, time is freed up to appreciate and savor every day a little more. And maybe by slowing down, you’ll find yourself in fewer accidents, too.