ReviewActa neurochirurgica2021
Free will and neurosurgical resections of the supplementary motor area: a critical review.
Review in Acta neurochirurgica, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 14 citations in OpenAlex.
- Linking the Supplementary Motor Network and Executive Function in Developing Brain.Clinical psychopharmacology and neuroscience : the official scientific journal of the Korean College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2025Article
- Executive dysfunctions in patients with low-grade gliomas in the supplementary motor area: a neuropsychological perspective.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2025Article
- The collapse of the wave function as the mediator of free will in prime neurons.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2025Article
- Brain stimulation and elicited memories.Acta neurochirurgica · 2023Review
- The supplementary motor area syndrome: a neurosurgical review.Neurosurgical review · 2022Review
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Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundResearch suggests that unconscious activity in the supplementary motor area (SMA) precedes not only certain simple motor actions but also the point at which we become aware of our intention to perform such actions. The extent to which these findings have implications for our understanding of the concepts of free will and personal responsibility has been subject of intense debate during the latest four decades.
methodsThis research is discussed in relation to effects of neurosurgical removal of the SMA in a narrative review.
resultsRemoval of the SMA typically causes a transient inability to perform non-stimulus-driven, voluntary actions. This condition, known as the SMA syndrome, does not appear to be associated with a loss of sense of volition but with a profound disruption of executive function/cognitive control.
conclusionsThe role of the SMA may be to serve as a gateway between the corticospinal tract and systems for executive function. Such systems are typically seen as tools for conscious decisions. What is known about effects of SMA resections would thus seem to suggest a view that is compatible with concepts of personal responsibility. However, the philosophical question whether free will exists cannot be definitely resolved on the basis of these observations.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.