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1: Nat Neurosci. 2008 May;11(5):543-5. Epub 2008 Apr 13.Click here to read Links

Unconscious determinants of free decisions in the human brain.

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

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.

PMID: 18408715 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]