Time Perception

• The film Inception uses a clever story element in which time in dreams is perceived as longer than time in waking life. When the characters go into a dream within a dream, the perception of time is lengthened even further. The perception of time is increased exponentially with each new dream within a dream, or dream level. While this makes for a great story, how is time actually perceived in dreams?
  
  Daniel Erlancher studied this exact topic (time required for motor activity ) in 2004 and discovered that, contrary to common belief, there is no evidence to indicate that time is perceived any differently in dreams than in reality. The false belief that time is different in dreams could be attributed to the dreamer’s ability to jump from time and place in a dream, much like movies and stories do. While we can imagine and therefore dream about traveling through the past, the future and transporting from place to place, the conscious perception of time in any one place remains intact.