Unconscious decisions in the brain
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SURESH JAGADEESAN
Jan 29, 2013, 1:27:46 AM1/29/13
to MerchantNavy, indianmariners
Dear all,
Below is the article from Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and
Brain Sciences in Leipzig.
From the below article it is scientifically proved 'Free will' has no
meaning or to limited sense.
My understanding is that brain is just like other organs of the body
and it has no intelligence on its own. The thoughts are outside of the
body-brain, an energy waves controlling human body, which is common
for all just like wind.
How a radio receiver is able to receive radio waves and give music by
activating the speaker of the receiver, the brain is so designed to
receive thought waves and activate the whole body to function.
Hence in Bhagavad Gita it was so stated that three modes of nature
changes the gunas of human being and hence his actions are bound by
it.
BG- “Chapter 14, Verse 5.
Material nature consists of the three modes--goodness, passion and
ignorance. When the living entity comes in contact with nature, he
becomes conditioned by these modes.”
It looks like the truths of Bhagavad gita has to be translated to
present scientific language, and then it will have far and wide appeal
among Youths and all.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unconscious decisions in the brain
A team of scientists has unravelled how the brain unconsciously
prepares our decisions
Already several seconds before we consciously make a decision its
outcome can be predicted from unconscious activity in the brain. This
is shown in a study by scientists from the Max Planck Institute for
Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig, in collaboration with
the Charité University Hospital and the Bernstein Center for
Computational Neuroscience in Berlin. The researchers from the group
of Professor John-Dylan Haynes used a brain scanner to investigate
what happens in the human brain just before a decision is made. "Many
processes in the brain occur automatically and without involvement of
our consciousness. This prevents our mind from being overloaded by
simple routine tasks. But when it comes to decisions we tend to assume
they are made by our conscious mind. This is questioned by our current
findings." (Nature Neuroscience, April 13th 2008)
Brain regions (shown in green) from which the outcome of a
participant’s decision can be predicted before it is made. The top
shows an enlarged 3D view of a pattern of brain activity in one
informative brain region. Computer-based pattern classifiers can be
trained to recognize which of these micropatterns typically occur just
before either left or right decisions. These classifiers can then be
used to predict the outcome of a decision up to 7 seconds before a
person thinks he is consciously making the decision.
Brain regions (shown in green) from which the outcome of a
participant’s decision can be predicted before it is made. The top
shows an enlarged 3D view of a pattern of brain activity in one
informative brain region. Computer-based pattern classifiers can be
trained to recognize which of these micropatterns typically occur just
before either left or right decisions. These classifiers can then be
used to predict the outcome of a decision up to 7 seconds before a
person thinks he is consciously making the decision.
© John-Dylan Haynes In the study, participants could freely decide if
they wanted to press a button with their left or right hand. They were
free to make this decision whenever they wanted, but had to remember
at which time they felt they had made up their mind. The aim of the
experiment was to find out what happens in the brain in the period
just before the person felt the decision was made. The researchers
found that it was possible to predict from brain signals which option
participants would take already seven seconds before they consciously
made their decision. Normally researchers look at what happens when
the decision is made, but not atwhat happens several seconds before.
The fact that decisions can be predicted so long before they are made
is a astonishing finding.
This unprecedented prediction of a free decision was made possible by
sophisticated computer programs that were trained to recognize typical
brain activity patterns preceding each of the two choices.
Micropatterns of activity in the frontopolar cortex were predictive of
the choices even before participants knew which option they were going
to choose. The decision could not be predicted perfectly, but
prediction was clearly above chance. This suggests that the decision
is unconsciously prepared ahead of time but the final decision might
still be reversible.
"Most researchers investigate what happens when people have to decide
immediately, typically as a rapid response to an event in our
environment. Here we were focusing on the more interesting decisions
that are made in a more natural, self-paced manner", Haynes explains.
More than 20 years ago the American brain scientist Benjamin Libet
found a brain signal, the so-called "readiness-potential" that
occurred a fraction of a second before a conscious decision. Libet’s
experiments were highly controversial and sparked a huge debate. Many
scientists argued that if our decisions are prepared unconsciously by
the brain, then our feeling of "free will" must be an illusion. In
this view, it is the brain that makes the decision, not a person’s
conscious mind. Libet’s experiments were particularly controversial
because he found only a brief time delay between brain activity and
the conscious decision.
In contrast, Haynes and colleagues now show that brain activity
predicts even up to 7 seconds ahead of time how a person is going to
decide. But they also warn that the study does not finally rule out
free will: "Our study shows that decisions are unconsciously prepared
much longer ahead than previously thought. But we do not know yet
where the final decision is made. We need to investigate whether a
decision prepared by these brain areas can still be reversed."
--
Thanks and best regards
J.Suresh
New No.3, Old No.7,
Chamiers road - 1st Lane,
Alwarpet,
Chennai - 600018
Ph: 044 42030947
Mobile: 91 9884071738
--
Thanks and best regards
J.Suresh
New No.3, Old No.7,
Chamiers road - 1st Lane,
Alwarpet,
Chennai - 600018
Ph: 044 42030947
Mobile: 91 9884071738
Below is the article from Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and
Brain Sciences in Leipzig.
From the below article it is scientifically proved 'Free will' has no
meaning or to limited sense.
My understanding is that brain is just like other organs of the body
and it has no intelligence on its own. The thoughts are outside of the
body-brain, an energy waves controlling human body, which is common
for all just like wind.
How a radio receiver is able to receive radio waves and give music by
activating the speaker of the receiver, the brain is so designed to
receive thought waves and activate the whole body to function.
Hence in Bhagavad Gita it was so stated that three modes of nature
changes the gunas of human being and hence his actions are bound by
it.
BG- “Chapter 14, Verse 5.
Material nature consists of the three modes--goodness, passion and
ignorance. When the living entity comes in contact with nature, he
becomes conditioned by these modes.”
It looks like the truths of Bhagavad gita has to be translated to
present scientific language, and then it will have far and wide appeal
among Youths and all.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unconscious decisions in the brain
A team of scientists has unravelled how the brain unconsciously
prepares our decisions
Already several seconds before we consciously make a decision its
outcome can be predicted from unconscious activity in the brain. This
is shown in a study by scientists from the Max Planck Institute for
Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig, in collaboration with
the Charité University Hospital and the Bernstein Center for
Computational Neuroscience in Berlin. The researchers from the group
of Professor John-Dylan Haynes used a brain scanner to investigate
what happens in the human brain just before a decision is made. "Many
processes in the brain occur automatically and without involvement of
our consciousness. This prevents our mind from being overloaded by
simple routine tasks. But when it comes to decisions we tend to assume
they are made by our conscious mind. This is questioned by our current
findings." (Nature Neuroscience, April 13th 2008)
Brain regions (shown in green) from which the outcome of a
participant’s decision can be predicted before it is made. The top
shows an enlarged 3D view of a pattern of brain activity in one
informative brain region. Computer-based pattern classifiers can be
trained to recognize which of these micropatterns typically occur just
before either left or right decisions. These classifiers can then be
used to predict the outcome of a decision up to 7 seconds before a
person thinks he is consciously making the decision.
Brain regions (shown in green) from which the outcome of a
participant’s decision can be predicted before it is made. The top
shows an enlarged 3D view of a pattern of brain activity in one
informative brain region. Computer-based pattern classifiers can be
trained to recognize which of these micropatterns typically occur just
before either left or right decisions. These classifiers can then be
used to predict the outcome of a decision up to 7 seconds before a
person thinks he is consciously making the decision.
© John-Dylan Haynes In the study, participants could freely decide if
they wanted to press a button with their left or right hand. They were
free to make this decision whenever they wanted, but had to remember
at which time they felt they had made up their mind. The aim of the
experiment was to find out what happens in the brain in the period
just before the person felt the decision was made. The researchers
found that it was possible to predict from brain signals which option
participants would take already seven seconds before they consciously
made their decision. Normally researchers look at what happens when
the decision is made, but not atwhat happens several seconds before.
The fact that decisions can be predicted so long before they are made
is a astonishing finding.
This unprecedented prediction of a free decision was made possible by
sophisticated computer programs that were trained to recognize typical
brain activity patterns preceding each of the two choices.
Micropatterns of activity in the frontopolar cortex were predictive of
the choices even before participants knew which option they were going
to choose. The decision could not be predicted perfectly, but
prediction was clearly above chance. This suggests that the decision
is unconsciously prepared ahead of time but the final decision might
still be reversible.
"Most researchers investigate what happens when people have to decide
immediately, typically as a rapid response to an event in our
environment. Here we were focusing on the more interesting decisions
that are made in a more natural, self-paced manner", Haynes explains.
More than 20 years ago the American brain scientist Benjamin Libet
found a brain signal, the so-called "readiness-potential" that
occurred a fraction of a second before a conscious decision. Libet’s
experiments were highly controversial and sparked a huge debate. Many
scientists argued that if our decisions are prepared unconsciously by
the brain, then our feeling of "free will" must be an illusion. In
this view, it is the brain that makes the decision, not a person’s
conscious mind. Libet’s experiments were particularly controversial
because he found only a brief time delay between brain activity and
the conscious decision.
In contrast, Haynes and colleagues now show that brain activity
predicts even up to 7 seconds ahead of time how a person is going to
decide. But they also warn that the study does not finally rule out
free will: "Our study shows that decisions are unconsciously prepared
much longer ahead than previously thought. But we do not know yet
where the final decision is made. We need to investigate whether a
decision prepared by these brain areas can still be reversed."
--
Thanks and best regards
J.Suresh
New No.3, Old No.7,
Chamiers road - 1st Lane,
Alwarpet,
Chennai - 600018
Ph: 044 42030947
Mobile: 91 9884071738
--
Thanks and best regards
J.Suresh
New No.3, Old No.7,
Chamiers road - 1st Lane,
Alwarpet,
Chennai - 600018
Ph: 044 42030947
Mobile: 91 9884071738
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