title: Unconscious determinants of free decisions in the human brain.
abstract: There has been a long controversy as to whether subjectively 'free' decisions are determined by brain activity ahead of time. We found that the outcome of a decision can be encoded in brain activity of prefrontal and parietal cortex up to 10 s before it enters awareness. This delay presumably reflects the operation of a network of high-level control areas that begin to prepare an upcoming decision long before it enters awareness.
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Stephanstrasse 1A, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Chun Siong
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Soon
authors.forename: Marcel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brass
authors.forename: Hans-Jochen
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Heinze
authors.forename: John-Dylan
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Haynes
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D003243:Consciousness / Q000502:physiology*; D003657:Decision Making / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors; D014473:Unconscious, Psychology