ArticleScientific reports2022
Theta but not beta activity is modulated by freedom of choice during action selection.
Article in Scientific reports, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Modulation of prefrontal theta oscillations slows social cognition.Cognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience · 2026Article
- Ethical Decision-Making in Chilean University Students: Behavioral and Electroencephalographic Evidence from Professional Ethical Dilemmas.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Cognitive training and retest learning effects on theta and alpha power in older and young adults: A perspective on the crunch hypothesis and the STAC-R model.International journal of clinical and health psychology : IJCHPArticle
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4 authors.
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Abstract
Large-scale neurophysiological markers of action competition have been almost exclusively investigated in the context of instructed choices, hence it remains unclear whether these markers also apply to free choices. This study aimed to compare the specific brain dynamics underlying instructed and free decisions. Electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded while 31 participants performed a target selection task; the choice relied either on stimulus-response mappings (instructed) or on participants' preferences (free). Choice difficulty was increased by introducing distractors in the informative stimulus in instructed choices, and by presenting targets with similar motor costs in free choices. Results revealed that increased decision difficulty was associated with higher reaction times (RTs) in instructed choices and greater choice uncertainty in free choices. Midfrontal EEG theta (4-8 Hz) power increased with difficulty in instructed choices, but not in free choices. Although sensorimotor beta (15-30 Hz) power was correlated with RTs, it was not significantly influenced by choice context or difficulty. These results suggest that midfrontal theta power may specifically increase with difficulty in externally-driven choices, whereas sensorimotor beta power may be predictive of RTs in both externally- and internally-driven choices.
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