Universität zu Köln

Rens, Natalie, Bode, Stefan ORCID: 0000-0002-0258-7795 and Cunnington, Ross ORCID: 0000-0002-7423-4809 (2018). Perceived freedom of choice is associated with neural encoding of option availability. Neuroimage, 177. S. 59 - 68. SAN DIEGO: ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE. ISSN 1095-9572

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Abstract

Freedom of choice has been defined as the opportunity to choose alternative plans of action. In this fMRI study, we investigated how the perceived freedom of choice and the underlying neural correlates are influenced by the availability of options. Participants made an initial free choice between left or right doors before beginning a virtual walk along a corridor. At the mid-point of the corridor, lock cues appeared to reveal whether one or both doors remained available, requiring participants either to select a particular door or allowing them to freely choose to stay or switch their choice. We found that participants rated trials as free when they were able to carry out their initial choice, but even more so when both doors remained available. Multi-voxel pattern analysis showed that upcoming choices could initially be decoded from visual cortices before the appearance of the lock cues, and additionally from the motor cortex after the lock cues had confirmed which doors were open. When participants were able to maintain the same choice that they originally selected, the availability of alternative options was represented in fine-grained patterns of activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Further, decoding accuracy in this region correlated with the subjective level of freedom that participants reported. These results suggest that there is neural encoding of the availability of alternative options in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and the degree of this encoding predicts an individual's perceived freedom of choice.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Rens, Natalie UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Bode, Stefan UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0002-0258-7795 UNSPECIFIED Cunnington, Ross UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0002-7423-4809 UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-176405
DOI:	10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.05.008
Journal or Publication Title:	Neuroimage
Volume:	177
Page Range:	S. 59 - 68
Date:	2018
Publisher:	ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE
Place of Publication:	SAN DIEGO
ISSN:	1095-9572
Language:	English
Faculty:	Unspecified
Divisions:	Unspecified
Subjects:	no entry
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language DELAYED-RESPONSE TASKS; FREE WILL; WORKING-MEMORY; BRAIN; INFORMATION; PREFERENCE; DECISIONS; SELECTION; HUMANS; CORTEX Multiple languages Neurosciences; Neuroimaging; Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging Multiple languages
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/17640