Readiness potentials driven by non-motoric processes

Alexander, Prescott; Schlegel, Alexander; Sinnott‐Armstrong, Walter; Roskies, Adina L.; Wheatley, Thalia; Tse, Peter U.

doi:10.1016/j.concog.2015.11.011

Cited by 57 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Likewise, the issue of volitionality was previously studied only in the context of overt behavior (Brass et al, 2013). Yet, later studies suggest that contributions from motor-related processes may not be necessary for RP generation (Alexander et al, 2016), or may be associated mainly with action consequences or outcomes, not the movement itself (Jo et al, 2014;Wen et al, 2018). For example, when a response is prepared and then abandoned (as in a NoGo condition), it is still preceded by RP (Alexander et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

When is the brain ready for mental actions? Readiness potential for mental calculations

Ras¹,

Nowik²,

Klawiter³

et al. 2020

Acta Neurobiologiae Experimentalis

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While the preparatory neural mechanisms of real and imagined body movements have been extensively studied, the underpinnings of self-initiated, voluntary mental acts are largely unknown. Therefore, using electroencephalography (EEG), we studied the time course and patterns of changes in brain activity associated with purely mental processes which start on their own, without an external or interoceptive stimulation. We compared EEG recordings for decisions to perform mental operations on numbers, imagined finger movements, and actual finger movements. In all three cases, we found striking similarities in slow negative shifts of brain electrical activity lasting around 1 s and, therefore, characteristic for readiness potential. These results show that the brain not only needs time to be ready for a purely mental task but also that a required preparatory interval involves neural changes analogical to the ones observed before intentional body movements. As such, the readiness potential represents a universal process of unconscious preparatory brain activity preceding any, including purely mental, voluntary action.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

When is the brain ready for mental actions? Readiness potential for mental calculations

Ras¹,

Nowik²,

Klawiter³

et al. 2020

Acta Neurobiologiae Experimentalis

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“…At the neural level, a slow negative potential appeared 1200 ms exclusively before intentional inhibition, which provides evidence that the RP also reflects the preparation of stopping a motor action. Together with the evidence that the RP develops prior to the process irrelevant to action [114][115][116] and its amplitude is influenced by the degree of intentionality [117][118][119], it is concluded that RP reflects neural processes related to intention formation rather than motor preparation [114,120,121]. This can also be interesting in relation to the current discussion on the brain disease model of addiction [122] and with respect to the question if long-term alcohol-dependent patients show problems in intention formation and/or execution.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 71%

“Free won’t” after a beer or two: chronic and acute effects of alcohol on neural and behavioral indices of intentional inhibition

et al. 2020

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Background: Response inhibition can be classified into stimulus-driven inhibition and intentional inhibition based on the degree of endogenous volition involved. In the past decades, abundant research efforts to study the effects of alcohol on inhibition have focused exclusively on stimulus-driven inhibition. The novel Chasing Memo task measures stimulus-driven and intentional inhibition within the same paradigm. Combined with the stop-signal task, we investigated how alcohol use affects behavioral and psychophysiological correlates of intentional inhibition, as well as stimulus-driven inhibition. Methods: Experiment I focused on intentional inhibition and stimulus-driven inhibition in relation to past-year alcohol use. The Chasing Memo task, the stop-signal task, and questionnaires related to substance use and impulsivity were administered to 60 undergraduate students (18-25 years old). Experiment II focused on behavioral and neural correlates acute alcohol use on performance on the Chasing Memo task by means of electroencephalography (EEG). Sixteen young male adults (21-28 years old) performed the Chasing Memo task once under placebo and once under the influence of alcohol (blood alcohol concentration around 0.05%), while EEG was recorded. Results: In experiment I, AUDIT (Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test) total score did not significantly predict stimulusdriven inhibition or intentional inhibition performance. In experiment II, the placebo condition and the alcohol condition were comparable in terms of behavioral indices of stimulus-driven inhibition and intentional inhibition as well as taskrelated EEG patterns. Interestingly, a slow negative readiness potential (RP) was observed with an onset of about 1.2 s, exclusively before participants stopped intentionally. Conclusions: These findings suggest that both past-year increases in risky alcohol consumption and moderate acute alcohol use have limited effects on stimulus-driven inhibition and intentional inhibition. These conclusions cannot be generalized to alcohol use disorder and high intoxication levels. The RP might reflect processes involved in the formation of an intention in general.

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“…Interestingly, a smaller CNV occurs even when participants are not required to respond to the stimulus, suggesting that it also reflects nonmotor temporal processes (Rohrbaugh & Gaillard, 1983). The RP may also occur in the absence of immediate action, since it is apparently also found prior to "covert decisions" that do not immediately lead to actions (Alexander et al, 2016;Gluth et al, 2013). These findings indicate that the RP and CNV may reflect both motor preparation and temporal expectation.…”

Section: Planning Temporal Expectation and Actionmentioning

confidence: 88%

The Readiness Potential reflects expectation, not uncertainty, in the timing of action

Travers

Friedemann

Haggard

2020

Preprint

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Actions are guided by a combination of external cues, internal intentions and stored knowledge.Self-initiated voluntary actions, produced without any immediate external cue, may be preceded by a slow EEG Readiness Potential (RP) that progressively increases prior to action. The cognitive significance of this neural event is controversial. Some accounts link the RP to the fact that timing of voluntary actions is generated endogenously, without external constraints, and perhaps even randomly. Other accounts take the RP as reflecting the unique role of planning, therefore of temporal expectation, in voluntary actions. In many previous experiments, actions are both unconstrained by external cues, but also potentially involve preplanning and anticipation. To separate these factors, we developed a reinforcement learning paradigm where participants learned, through trial and error, the optimal time to act. If the RP reflects freedom from external constraint, its amplitude should be greater early in learning, when participants do not yet know the best time to act. Conversely, if the RP reflects planning, it should be greater later on, when participants have learned, and know in advance, the time of action. We found that RP amplitudes grew with learning, suggesting that this neural activity reflects planning and anticipation for the forthcoming action, rather than freedom from external constraint.Word Count: 6,346

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Readiness potentials driven by non-motoric processes

Cited by 57 publications

References 38 publications

When is the brain ready for mental actions? Readiness potential for mental calculations

When is the brain ready for mental actions? Readiness potential for mental calculations

“Free won’t” after a beer or two: chronic and acute effects of alcohol on neural and behavioral indices of intentional inhibition

The Readiness Potential reflects expectation, not uncertainty, in the timing of action

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