ArticleImaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.)2025
Probing for intentions: The early readiness potential does not reflect awareness of motor preparation.
Article in Imaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.), 2025. 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.
- The functional neuroanatomy of event-based and time-based prospective memory, and its improvement.Communications biology · 2026Trial
- Spatial Distance and Temporal Attentional Focus Modulate Voluntary Action Preparation and Awareness.Psychophysiology · 2026Article
- Commit to your putting stroke: exploring the impact of quiet eye duration and neural activity on golf putting performance.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
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Abstract
Voluntary actions are typically preceded by the readiness potential (RP), a negative midfrontal electroencephalography (EEG) deflection that begins ~2 s before movement. What cognitive and neural process the RP reflects and how it relates to conscious intention remain unclear due to conflicting findings. We investigated the neural basis and cognitive significance of the RP in a novel probe-based paradigm. Contrary to prior reports, we found that pre-probe RP buildups were not related to reported awareness of motor preparation. Computational modeling suggested that the best explanation for these results is via metacognitive access to stochastic accumulation. Reported preparation was also related to beta desynchronization over contralateral motor cortex shortly before probe onset. We conclude that the RP may be metacognitively accessible in response to external task demands but does not reflect the onset of a conscious intention. We discuss implications of these findings for voluntary action initiation and intention awareness.
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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.