Unconscious determinants of free decisions in the human brain

@article{Soon2008UnconsciousDO,
  title={Unconscious determinants of free decisions in the human brain},
  author={Chun Siong Soon and Marcel Brass and Hans-Jochen Heinze and John-Dylan Haynes},
  journal={Nature Neuroscience},
  year={2008},
  volume={11},
  pages={543-545}
}
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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