Motivation and emotion/Book/2024/Free will and neuroscience

Free will and neuroscience:
What does neuroscience reveal about the concept of free will?

Multimedia presentation (3 min)

Overview

If you were asked if you had free will would you say yes? More specifically, would you be able to name a scenario when you acted of your own free will? And if you could name a scenario, how does the biological functions of your brain fit into it?

This chapter considers the neurological relationship to free will in order to understand how the biological functions of our brains fit into free will. The idea of free will has been around since the early Greeks. With neuroscience being in circulation since the early Greeks it is surprising that there are not a large number of connections between free will and neuroscience. Relating these two topics help us in understanding both conscious and unconscious actions. The idea of free will is relatively difficult to identify in people as there are so many influences in the world which could affect our will. This book chapter examines theories and articles to understand the influence of neurological processes on free will.

Background

What is neuroscience?

Neuroscience is defined as "any or all of the sciences, such as neurochemistry and experimental psychology, which deal with the structure or function of the nervous system and brain" (Nordqvist, 2013).

History of neuroscience

Neuroscience has been recorded to have originated with the understanding of the brains role of behaviour (“History of Neurobiology,” 2021). Three case studies discussed below follow the history of neuroscience.

The case of Phineas Gage

As unfortunate as his case was, Phineas Gage's case has gone down in history memorably. Gage was working as a railroad worker when a very long iron rod shot through the front of his skull and went straight through. Gage survived the accident and doctors recorded the changes in his behaviour after his accident. "Once a responsible, appropriate, and hard-working an, Phineas became irresponsible, socially inappropriate, and unable to work again" ("History of Neurobiology," 2021). Phineas Gage's study helped scientist understand what the frontal lobes role was within behaviour.

The case of Mr. Tan

Have you ever heard of Broca's area? Well, the case study of Mr. Tan explains how this came to be. A French physician and neurosurgeon, Pierre Paul Broca, "was studying the brain and attempting to determine whether localisation was a legitimate scientific idea" ("History of Neurobiology," 2021). The localisation discussed was, at the time, phrenology "the study of brain functioning as it relates to bumps and indentations on the head" ("History of Neurobiology," 2021). Mr. Tan was examined by Dr. Broca as he was losing his speech and he could only say 'tan' ("History of Neurobiology," 2021). Unfortunately, Mr. Tan had died shortly after the examination, however, Dr. Broca did an autopsy and found that there was a legion in the left of his frontal lobe ("History of Neurobiology," 2021). This created the Broca's area title in the brain.

The case of H.M.

H.M. had been experiencing seizures and underwent brain surgery to try and control them as it was thought he would die from them if not controlled ("History of Neurobiology," 2021). In this surgery H.M. had his hippocampus removed which both controlled his seizures and gave him anterograde amnesia, meaning that he could not make new memories ("History of Neurobiology," 2021). The case of H.M. is helpful in understanding the use of the hippocampus in memory.

What is free will?

Free will is defined as the ability to choose one's own actions and act voluntarily without feeling necessity or the constraint of fate (Britannica 2024).

History of free will

The idea of free will has been alive for a very long time. From Homer and the Iliad to Wittgenstein, Dilman (1999/2013), outlines this historical and philosophical roots of free will. Many popular and well known psychologists are discussed by Dilman in his book. Names like Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Kant, and Freud all have a place in the history of free will.

Plato

According to Dilman (1999/2013), Platos view was that being evil created a lack of free will, likewise achieving self mastery is what helps someone have autonomy or free will. Why is it that someone who is evil does not have free will while someone who has 'self mastery' does? It seems that there is a flaw in the idea of good, evil and self-mastery. This flaw being that Plato's idea of evil may be based off someone who is acting in a way that would not have been deemed societally acceptable. If someone was acting out of societal expectations and doing whatever they want or even breaking the law does that not appear to be free will? It appears that anyone can have self mastery when they choose when and what to do and not do.

Aristotle

Where Plato's contribution was philosophical Aristotle's is analytical (Dilman, 1999/2013). Aristotle believed that "human beings pursue ends in accordance with reason, they form intentions, make choices, and act on them" (Dilman, 1999/2013) and were not just put on this earth to seek food and sensation. Dilman (1999/2013), states that Aristotle believed that Plato's ideas of evil and self-mastery were flawed. Instead Aristotle believed that when a person makes a choice of any kind they are using their will (Dilman, 1999/2013). This idea seems to be a good way to explain free will. The ability to make choices as humankind seems to help us enact of our own will.

Descartes

Descartes separated the mind from the body in his theory of dualism (Dilman, 1999/2013). Dilman (1999/2013), stated that "the 'act of will' is voluntary for Descartes, but the movement it brings about is not". Movement being involuntary seems to make sense. If you were to look at reflexes and how quick they are in response to say a hit to the knee it would appear that there was little time to think about them. Likewise, some people can be shocked that a reflex happened in response to such a small tap to the knee. Descartes is seemingly describing neurological processes as involuntary movements.

Kant

According to Dilman (1999/2013) "Kant... claims that the will can and ought to be determined by reason". Dilman (1999/2013) also stated that Kant had difficulty accepting his own ideas as he had opposing concepts of free will and causality of which he did not believe that free will could exist at the same time. The idea of Kant's free will theory is once again different from the other influential names in history.

Freud

"Freud... thought that we identify free will with indifference and so are most inclined to believe in its reality where very little hangs on what we do" (Dilman, 1999/2013). Under this banner would fall small choices made in day to day life like, what shirt you choose to wear or what time to eat lunch. In the sense of choice Freud's view is similar to Aristotle's with one main difference being that, in Freud's case, the choices connected to free will are only small choices.

Free will in neuroscience

According to Brass et al. (2019), "the main contribution of neuroscience to the free will debate has revolved around the question whether conscious decisions can be predicted from brain activation preceding such decisions". Burns and Bechara (2007) explain that there are twos systems involved in will. These systems being impulsive and reflective, which could also be labeled as impulsive and inhibition systems as the reflective system controls the impulsive system. These systems could help explain the free will of neuroscience and help understand if there is a choice to be had as Aristotle believes.

Theories

Roediger and colleagues (2008), outline conscious control of behaviour with four studies, tying neuroscience to psychology.

The response - choice paradigm

The first of the studies is the response – choice paradigm designed by Benjamin Libet. Libet studied the relationship between the readiness potential and conscious thought to understand how they create a motor movement. “At the time that Libet began his research that prior to motor movement there was an electrical change on the area of the scalp above the premotor cortex. This is known as the readiness potential” (Roediger et al., 2008). During his study Libet had his participants read off of a specially made clock and note the time they became aware of the intention to move (Roediger et al., 2008; Pockett, 2007; Cardoso, 2021). But how does this study tie into free will? This study seemingly disproves the idea of free will as there is a specific electrical charge that causes the action. Libet (1999), states that this study does not disprove free will as there is a period of time between when the participants become aware of their intention to act and when the action happens where the participants could choose to stop the behaviour. With the being said free will wasn't the main point of Libet's research or any point. It was only after the study had been completed that Libet released an article about free will using his previous experiment as an example. Libet's response-choice paradigm aligns with Descartes perspective of free will.

The stop signal paradigm

The second of the four studies is the stop signal paradigm created by Gordon Logan and his colleagues. Logan and colleagues had their participants "perform repeated trials of a simple task (usually discriminating X from O). On a portion of the trials (usually around 20%), a tone is emitted at some point after the go stimulus (the X or O) has been presented but before the subject has responded to that stimulus. Subjects are instructed to stop performing the discrimination task (the go task) when they hear the tone (the stop signal)" (Roediger et al., 2008). The reaction time was measured in this study. This paradigm is best used to understand response inhibition within a laboratory setting (Verbruggen & Logan, 2008). The stop signal paradigm helps understand free will by understanding inhibitions and the use of 'free won't'.

The process dissociation procedure

The third of the four studies is the process-disassociation procedure designed by Larry Jacoby and colleagues. "The process-dissociation procedure has been used to estimate the seperate contributions of consciously controlled and nonconsciously controlled, or automatic, processes to performance on memory tasks" (Roediger et al., 2008). The process dissociation procedure has to do with more multiple process working together than one single process by itself (Roediger et al., 2008). In order for this to happen, an opposition procedure needs to be used. An opposition procedure involves "the two types of mental processes (e.g. conscious vs unconscious, controlled vs automatic) that are presumably tapped by a given cognitive task are set in opposition to each other" (Roediger et al., 2008). The process dissociation procedure helps understand free will by comparing conscious and unconscious thought. This can then be related back to other studies or theorists like Aristotle who believed that choice reflected will.

The forced report procedure

The final of the four studies is the forced report procedure designed by Asher Koriat and Morris Goldsmith. The forced report procedure "focuses on the role that report option, the decision to volunteer or withhold information, plays in determining performance on memory tasks" (Roediger et al., 2008). This can help in understanding free will through the choice of volunteering or withholding the information. once again this relates back to Aristotles theory of choice, more importantly the ability to choose being our free will.

Conclusion

This chapter explored the different definitions, histories and theories of both free will and neuroscience both separate and combined. The conclusion about free will is one that may be a mystery for a long time, however it has become apparent that Aristotle's idea of choice in relation to free will seems to have been related back to often. Through the theories it all had to do with physical processes and whether or not a person can choose to fulfil that action. So it seems that a conclusion has been reached on what neuroscience says about free will and that is that it exists in the form of choices.

See also

• Willpower - Book Chapter (2015)
• Cognitive Dissonance and motivation - Book Chapter (2021)
• Compatibilism - Book Chapter (2017)

Quotes

1. "any or all of the sciences, such as neurochemistry and experimental psychology, which deal with the structure or function of the nervous system and brain" (Nordqvist, 2013)
2. "Once a responsible, appropriate, and hard-working an, Phineas became irresponsible, socially inappropriate, and unable to work again" (“History of Neurobiology,” 2021)
3. "was studying the brain and attempting to determine whether localisation was a legitimate scientific idea" (“History of Neurobiology,” 2021)
4. "the study of brain functioning as it relates to bumps and indentations on the head" (“History of Neurobiology,” 2021)
5. "human beings pursue ends in accordance with reason, they form intentions, make choices, and act on them" (Dilman, 1999/2013)
6. "the 'act of will' is voluntary for Descartes, but the movement it brings about is not" (Dilman, 1999/2013)
7. "Kant... claims that the will can and ought to be determined by reason" (Dilman, 1999/2013)
8. "Freud... thought that we identify free will with indifference and so are most inclined to believe in its reality where very little hangs on what we do" (Dilman, 1999/2013)
9. "the main contribution of neuroscience to the free will debate has revolved around the question whether conscious decisions can be predicted from brain activation preceding such decisions" (Brass et al., 2019)
10. “At the time that Libet began his research that prior to motor movement there was an electrical change on the area of the scalp above the premotor cortex. This is known as the readiness potential” (Roediger and colleagues, 2008)
11. "perform repeated trials of a simple task (usually discriminating X from O). On a portion of the trials (usually around 20%), a tone is emitted at some point after the go stimulus (the X or O) has been presented but before the subject has responded to that stimulus. Subjects are instructed to stop performing the discrimination task (the go task) when they hear the tone (the stop signal)" (Roediger and colleagues, 2008)
12. "The process-dissociation procedure has been used to estimate the seperate contributions of consciously controlled and nonconsciously controlled, or automatic, processes to performance on memory tasks" (Roediger and colleagues, 2008)
13. "the two types of mental processes (e.g. conscious vs unconscious, controlled vs automatic) that are presumably tapped by a given cognitive task are set in opposition to each other" (Roediger and colleagues, 2008)
14. "focuses on the role that report option, the decision to volunteer or withhold information, plays in determining performance on memory tasks" (Roediger and colleagues, 2008)

References

Brass, M., Furstenberg, A., & Mele, A. R. (2019). Why neuroscience does not disprove free will. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 102, 251–263. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.04.024

Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2024, October 3). free will. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/free-will

Burns, K., & Bechara, A. (2007). Decision making and free will: a neuroscience perspective. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 25(2), 263–280. https://doi.org/10.1002/bsl.751

Cardoso, R. C. (2021). Neurolaw and the Neuroscience of Free Will: an Overview. SCIO: Revista de Filosofía, 21, 55–81. https://doi.org/10.46583/scio_2021.21.843

History of Neurobiology. (2021). In connect.springerpub.com. Springer Publishing Company. https://connect.springerpub.com/content/book/978-0-8261-0923-1/chapter/ch01

Ilham Dilman. (2013). Free Will An Historical and Philosophical Introduction. Routledge. http://www.amas.hk/pdf/shijianshenxue/6/388)Free%20Will%20-%20Historical%20and%20Philosophical%20Introduction%20(Ilham%20Dilman)%20.pdf (Original work published 1999)

Libet, B. (1999). Do we have Free Will? Journal of Consciousness Studies, 6(8-9), 47–57. https://spot.colorado.edu/~tooley/Benjamin%20Libet.pdf

Nordqvist, C. (2013). About Neuroscience - Department of Neuroscience. Department of Neuroscience. https://neuro.georgetown.edu/about-neuroscience/

Pockett, S. (2007). The concept of free will: philosophy, neuroscience and the law. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 25(2), 281–293. https://doi.org/10.1002/bsl.743

Roediger, H. L., Goode, M. K., & Zarombe, F. M. (2008). Free Will and the Control of Action. In J. Baer, J. C. Kaufman, & R. F. Baumeister (Eds.), Are we free? Psychology and Free Will (pp. 205–225). Oxford University Press. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Henry-Roediger-2/publication/285124681_Free_Will_and_the_Control_of_Action/links/586d271e08aebf17d3a717c1/Free-Will-and-the-Control-of-Action.pdf

Verbruggen, F., & Logan, G. D. (2008). Response inhibition in the stop-signal paradigm. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 12(11), 418–424. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2008.07.005

External links

• Determinism vs Free will (Crash Course)
• The Libet Expreiment: Is Free Will Just an Illusion? (BBC radio 4)