The readiness potential reflects intentional binding.

Han-Gue Jo,Stefan Schmidt,Marc Wittmann,Thilo Hinterberger

doi:10.3389/fnhum.2014.00421

Abstract

When a voluntary action is causally linked with a sensory outcome, the action and its consequent effect are perceived as being closer together in time. This effect is called intentional binding. Although many experiments were conducted on this phenomenon, the underlying neural mechanisms are not well understood. While intentional binding is specific to voluntary action, we presumed that preconscious brain activity (the readiness potential, RP), which occurs before an action is made, might play an important role in this binding effect. In this study, the brain dynamics were recorded with electroencephalography (EEG) and analyzed in single-trials in order to estimate whether intentional binding is correlated with the early neural processes. Moreover, we were interested in different behavioral performance between meditators and non-meditators since meditators are expected to be able to keep attention more consistently on a task. Thus, we performed the intentional binding paradigm with 20 mindfulness meditators and compared them to matched controls. Although, we did not observe a group effect on either behavioral data or EEG recordings, we found that self-initiated movements following ongoing negative deflections of slow cortical potentials (SCPs) result in a stronger binding effect compared to positive potentials, especially regarding the perceived time of the consequent effect. Our results provide the first direct evidence that the early neural activity within the range of SCPs affects perceived time of a sensory outcome that is caused by intentional action.

Highlights

The link between a voluntary action and its consequent effect leads to the experience of controlling one’s own actions, i.e., the sense of agency
While intentional binding is specific to voluntary action, we presumed that preconscious brain activity, which occurs before an action is made, might play an important role in this binding effect
We did not observe a group effect on either behavioral data or EEG recordings, we found that self-initiated movements following ongoing negative deflections of slow cortical potentials (SCPs) result in a stronger binding effect compared to positive potentials, especially regarding the perceived time of the consequent effect

Summary

Introduction

The link between a voluntary action and its consequent effect leads to the experience of controlling one’s own actions, i.e., the sense of agency. For over a decade there has been a growing interest in understanding a specific effect related to human agency, which was reported by Haggard et al (2002) and termed “intentional binding”. They showed that when a voluntary action causes a sensory outcome, the action and the consequent effect are perceived as being closer together in time than they really are. Many studies have assessed how intentional binding is modulated, the underlying neural mechanisms remain relatively unexplored

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