Unconscious determinants of free decisions in the human brain.
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.
Soon
Chun Siong
CS
Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Stephanstrasse 1A, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
Brass
Marcel
M
Heinze
Hans-Jochen
HJ
Haynes
John-Dylan
JD
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