Your Brain Makes Decisions Up to 10 Seconds Before You Are Aware of Them
A person staring at two buttons, with a ghostly brain image above already reaching for one button 10 seconds before the hand moves
Neuroscientist John-Dylan Haynes used fMRI scans to show that brain activity predicting a decision can be detected up to 10 seconds before a person consciously feels they have decided. The unconscious brain appears to choose first, and consciousness follows.
Why Itβs Interesting
It raises profound questions about free will. If your brain commits to a choice before 'you' are aware of it, who is really making the decision? It suggests consciousness may be more of a narrator than a decision-maker.
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