Excepting when specified otherwise, the subject is the same for human and
animal beings.
Based on MDT, time is not a parameter for the functions of the brain. This is
a basic deficiency.
But there is a problem: as the brain predicts on and on the evolution of the
external reality, how often is this activity done?
Of course, this problem is associated to the technological implementation of
every type of brain, so it is outside the field covered by MDT. Even so, based
on MDT, we can make some assumptions.
Because the brain is an optimized device as to its energy consumption, we
assume that the predictions about the evolution of the external reality are
done at a speed which depends on the changing speed of the external reality.
That is, the brain time flows with variable speed. This is also our feeling
based on our own experience. For instance, when we are involved in a complex
activity, time seems to flow too fast and when we have nothing to do, time
seems to flow very slowly.
This is a big design drawback. Without time, the long-range models could be
inefficient or unusable. So, the brain is forced to compensate, somehow, this
drawback.
One method is to use story-type models. They are not able to keep the control
of time, but they are able to record the order of occurence of some
information. Even so, this method is not very efficient. A story-type model
could fragment. Once it is fragmented, the correlation between the primary
information is lost.
Note: when a story-type model is fragmented, there is the tendency to
reconnect the fragments, based on logic. Many times this reconstruction is
wrong, but the impression could be good.
The fragmentation of the story-type models can be seen when a person describes
a complex situation. During this activity, one could change the order of some
facts.
Another method, used by the brain to keep track of time, is to use some
rhythm-models. Such models are specialized models, which try to guess when
something will happen, based on what has already happened before.
For instance, if the brain receives a sequence of two sounds, a rhythm model
tries to guess when a third sound will occur. The supposition is that such
models try to find an algorithm, which will generate the sequence. Such
algorithm must be changed on and on, in a fast dynamical way, to predict
better and better when the next sound will occur.
Such rhythm-models can be used, e.g. to recognize the speech or to understand
music.
The rhythm-models are not able either to solve the time problem, but they are
able to solve some time-related problems associated to fast changing external
reality in the field of sounds.
Let's analyze a bit this problem. First of all, the rhythm-models are very
well developed for human beings, and they are of very low quality for animals.
One assumption would be that, compared to animals, the human brain has a very
high capacity to make and operate image models, and, due to this, the rhythm-
models are so good.
But, there are some other facts: the European civilization invented the
polyphonic music (the most advanced music). But the European civilization is
developing based on symbolic models. It is fair to suppose that symbolic
models support the rhythm image-models.
We can take into account another idea as well: as MDT considers that the
capacity to make and operate symbolic models is generated by a specialized
hardware (thus it cannot be produced by a normal evolution process), it is
possible that the capacity to make and operate rhythm models was added in the
same way. This supposition is supported by the fact that, while some animals
are able to make and operate some image models above the level of human
beings, their capacity to make rhythm models is unusually low.
The problem of the origin of the rhythm models is left open for the moment.
Another method to compensate for the time keeping deficiency is to record some
pattern-models of the external reality. That is, to record some information
based on many M-type models, to build a pattern-model at a specific moment of
time, and to recognize the pattern later.
Such a pattern could be associated with the function of different organs of
the being, or with some other information from outside the being.
The time problem is a big one for the brain. The brain will use any external
reference to keep the time as the day/night cycle, the movement of the sun and
moon and for humans only, clocks.