Our brain makes decisions before we realize them ourselves?

The decision-making process may be more automatic than previously thought. New research shows that we have less control over our personal choices, and that these can be predicted from patterns of brain activity as much as 11 seconds before we become aware of them.

In the film „Minority Report” group of clairvoyantow was able to predict the crimes thatore were to commit other people. We are far from the reality depicted in the movie, but scientists can already guess our decisions.

In an experiment conducted at the University of South Wales, researchers showed that our decisions can be predicted by a pattern ofoin the activity of the mozgu. Through the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), it was found that the decision-making process can be preceded „standby mode” of our mozgu.

The results of the study were published in the journal „Scientific Reports”.

Professor Joel Pearson of the University of South Wales asked a group of volunteeroin order to imagine the patternsor lines aligned vertically or horizontally. Participants in the study then pressed a button indicating the patternor, ktory they chose, and then more buttons to determine how strongly they visualize a particular pattern for themselvesor. Pearson measured the time in whichorym pressed more buttons.

The result of the study was unexpected: Pearson knew the participant’s answersoin the experiment before they communicated them themselves. Imagining vertical or horizontal lines triggers specific responses in the cortex mozgu. Pearson says the patterns „appeared” w mozg participantoin as much as 11 seconds before they made a conscious decision and pressed the appropriate button.

According to the scientist, this may indicate that our mozgi are „programmed” on the choice ofor specific patternsow long before we realize them. When the study was published someore media began to write about the fact that people have no free will and everything they do is from gory scheduled. However, Pearson rejects such theses.

During the study was able to accurately predict the selection ofor in about 50 percent of the. caseow. Even the best results have not approached 100 percent. Thus, free will exists. Pearson comments on the results of his research in a different wayob. – If I asked you to imagine the words „bank”, you would probably think of a place where money is stored. But if I had shown you a picture of flowing water earlier, you would have associated the river bank – mowi (in English „river bank” means just the riverbank).

Scientists were also able to predict the strength of the images imagined by people. This happened thanks to the changes in activity recorded by the apparatus in someorych parts of the mozgu. Scientists hope their work will help people with post-traumatic stress syndrome. Patients suffering from it often complain of recurring images and thoughts in their head.