Unconscious determinants of free decisions in the human brain.

Full 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.

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Author information

Author/s: Soon, Chun Siong (CS); Brass, Marcel (M); Heinze, Hans-Jochen (HJ); Haynes, John-Dylan (JD);

Affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Stephanstrasse 1A, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Nature neuroscience (Nat Neurosci), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-May; vol 11 (issue 5) : pp 543-5

Dates: Created 2008/04/25; Completed 2008/06/30;

PMID: 18408715, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Brain - physiology
Brain Mapping
Choice Behavior - physiology
Cognition - physiology
Consciousness - physiology
Decision Making - physiology
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Nerve Net - physiology

Neural Pathways - physiology
Neuropsychological Tests
Parietal Lobe - physiology
Photic Stimulation
Prefrontal Cortex - physiology
Psychomotor Performance - physiology
Reaction Time - physiology
Time Factors
Unconscious (Psychology)

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