You might feel that you have the ability to make choices, decisions and plans — and the freedom to change your mind at any point if you so desire — but many psychologists and scientists would tell you ...

This is the first part in a four part series on the science of free will. First, some history. Though philosophers have debated free will for over 2000 years, scientists only began to take it on ...

The results of Libet's experiments have generated a lot of controversy about free will, and some neurophysiologists have even concluded that it does not exist. Moreover, Libet's experiment has been ...

In his response to my letter about the 1983 Libet experiment (1 September, p 24), Chris Frith asks two questions: What triggers the action demanded by the experiment, and why the report of the ...

Don’t blame impulsive people for their poor decisions. It’s not necessarily their fault. Impulsivity could result from not having enough time to veto our own actions. At least that is the implication ...

For decades, a groundbreaking brain study fueled opinions about whether we have free will over our actions. The conclusions drawn from this experiment, however, were likely flawed. In 1964, two ...

Two decades ago, a neuroscientist named Benjamin Libet published a classic experiment on conscious will. He had his subjects rest a finger on a button as they stared at a specially designed clock. It ...

A new algorithm enables a moment-by-moment analysis of brain activity each time a laboratory monkey reaches this way or that during an experiment -- it's like reading the monkey's mind Researchers ...

In Libet’s experiments, a participant would be asked to perform a simple task such as pressing a button or flexing their wrist. Sitting in front of a timer, they were asked to note the moment at which ...