To jump or not to jump - The Bereitschaftspotential required to jump into 192-meter abyss

Abstract

Self-initiated voluntary acts, such as pressing a button, are preceded by a surface-negative electrical brain potential, the Bereitschaftspotential (BP), that can be recorded over the human scalp using electroencephalography (EEG). While the BP’s early component (BP1, generated in the supplementary and cingulate motor area) was linked to motivational, intentional and timing properties, the BP’s late component (BP2, generated in the primary motor cortex) was found to be linked to motor execution and performance. Up to now, the BP required to initiate voluntary acts has only been recorded under well-controlled laboratory conditions, and it was unknown whether possible life-threatening decision making, e.g. required to jump into a 192-meter abyss, would impact this form of brain activity. Here we document for the first time pre-movement brain activity preceding 192-meter bungee jumping. We found that the BP’s spatiotemporal dynamics reflected by BP1 and BP2 are comparable before 192-meter bungee jumping and jumping from 1-meter. These results, possible through recent advancements in wireless and portable EEG technology, suggest that possible life-threatening decision-making has no impact on the BP’s spatiotemporal dynamics.

Building an Ear-EEG System by Hacking a Commercial Neck Speaker and a Commercial EEG Amplifier to Record Brain Activity Beyond the Lab

“…EEG measures the electrical activity of groups of neurons using electrodes positioned on the scalp and a signal amplifier. Small, lightweight, mobile EEG amplifiers allow recording EEG virtually anywhere, for example during bungee jumping (Nann, Cohen, Deecke, & Soekadar, 2019). Mobile EEG setups generally consist of a cap with integrated electrodes (Figure 1A), a mobile amplifier, and a laptop or a smartphone which is used for data acquisition and stimulus presentation, e.g.…”

Feasibility and Safety of Bilateral Hybrid EEG/EOG Brain/Neural–Machine Interaction

“…While all participants rated the brain/neural control paradigm as fluent, further increasing fluency would be desirable. In this context, taking advantage of lateralized brain activity [e.g., in the form of lateralized potential shifts preceding voluntary movements, the so-called Bereitschaftspotential or BP ( Nann et al, 2019 ), or movement-related cortical potentials (MRCPs; Schwarz et al, 2020 )] may contribute toward such aim. Since it was shown that SMR-ERDs are more pronounced over the contralateral hemisphere ( Nikulin et al, 2008 ), it might be possible using advanced signal-processing tools to determine the side of the intended movement by assessing such lateralized activity only.…”

Free will and neurosurgical resections of the supplementary motor area: a critical review

“…Report of an absence of the readiness potential for consequential decisions about donating money has been reported [35]. However, others have noted that the readiness potential precedes the decision to jump during bungy jumping [36]. An important line of discussion and critique of the Libet experiment concerns the question of its ecological validity for the understanding of consequential decision-making [30,47].…”

“…Report of an absence of the readiness potential for consequential decisions about donating money has been reported [ 35 ]. However, others have noted that the readiness potential precedes the decision to jump during bungy jumping [ 36 ].…”