Is Unconscious Movement Initiation an Artifact of the Clock?

Presenters: Pollyna. Shirley. Soon Hyung. Wai Chit. Wiharjo

What is eeg?

electroencephalographic
Electroencephalographic What does this long word mean???
The recording of electrical activity along the scalp produced by the firing of neurons within the brain

Recording of brains spontaneous electrical activity Over a short period of time Recorded from multiple electrodes

Brain Activity &

consciousness
WHO? Libet, Gleason, Wright, and Pearl (1983) WHAT? Recorded the electroencephalographic (EEG) activity of people instructed to generate occasional spontaneous hand movements. HOW? Report the time of each spontaneous decision to move by identifying the location at that time of a spot traveling around a clock display.

Brain Activity &

consciousness
RESULTS: Readiness potential (RP) Began approximately 350 ms before the times at which people indicated they had decided to move This pattern has been replicated several times (e.g., Haggard & Eimer, 1999; Trevena & Miller, 2002). SO? Results suggest that spontaneous decisions to move are initiated by the brain before people are consciously aware of having made these decisions

How reliable

is the study?

Negative-going shift in the EEG recorded at the Cz electrode. Logically impossible for negative shift to arise only in conjunction with movement preparation.
Possibility of other brain processes? Then its appearance before the conscious decision to move DOES NOT truly support the claim that movement preparation begins unconsciously.

What should we

do then?

2 Experiments Jeff Miller, Peter Shepherdson and Judy Trevena Negative shift is caused primarily (possibly exclusively) The requirements to monitor the clock display To report the spots position at the moment of the spontaneous decision to move. Both time-monitoring processes + Movement preparation Possibility of inference ?

Experiment 1

IV: Time Monitoring

DV: negative shifts in EEG waves

Hypothesis: EEG waves are a result of clock monitoring, not the making of conscious decisions to move.

Who were involved?

Participants 12 participants - 8 Males, 4 Females

Students of University of Otago

Aged 19 30 (M=23.7)

Each session lasting 2.5 hr

Apparatus

Responses recorded by IBM computer

Key-press responses made with index finger of right hand on the I key A spot indicated by a white cross moved clockwise at constant 2.5s per circuit

Procedures

8 blocks of 20 trials (10 with clock, 10 w/o clock) Order of trials randomized In trials with clock, spot will move around the clock perimeter starting from the top center Participants were told to relax, and generate spontaneous key press. Told not to preplan but emit on an abrupt basis The moving spot will stop 500-800ms after the key press response, after which the participant use the left/right arrow key to reposition spot.

What are the findings?

Pre-movement negativity in EEG may have resulted from monitoring the clock rather than from unconscious preparation for movement EEG activity at start of trial was also affected by the clock, probably due to obvious visual stimulation bet. clock and without clock

Miller J et al. Psychological Science 2010;22:103-109

Who were involved?

Participants
12 right-handed volunteers Aged 19 30 Did not do experiment 1

Experiment 2

Tones not obviously of different pitches Volume for conversational speech

Experiment 2

Accuracy > speech

Only informed which key to press after sound was made

What are the findings?

Presence of the clock had a significant impact on the EEG activity Presence of a moderating variable

What are the findings?

Miller J et al. Psychological Science 2010;22:103-109

Presence of the clock

Greater fluctuations in Cz amplitude with the presence of a clock Clock monitoring affects the level of EEG activity Rejects the hypothesis suggested in the previous study

Moderating variable: The type of task

There was less EEG activity than there was in Experiment 1 Less brain activity required to listen out for tone (compared to choosing to move)

EEG activity from clock monitoring + EEG activity from task = Total EEG activity

Background Research
(Haggard & Eimer; Libet et al; Trevena & Miller) Influence of the clock?

Current Research
Challenge to the previous research

Experiment 1 Key-press movement Negativity may result from monitoring clock Experiment 2 tone for pitch judgment task Moderating effect of the task

Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle

The measurement process interferes with the

processes to be measured

Need more experiments