Are we ever truly free to make decisions? New study tracks a universal process in the brain

By Lauren Claire Fong, PhD Candidate in Cognitive Neuroscience, The University of Melbourne
Daniel Feuerriegel, Lecturer and Head of the Prediction and Decision-Making Lab, The University of Melbourne

Imagine you’re in line at your favourite bakery, deciding whether to have a doughnut or a tart. You weigh them up, the doughnut wins, and you settle on that.

By the time you’re at the front of the line, however, only tarts are left. So, you buy one.

These two decisions feel completely different. One involves deliberation based on our unique and personal preferences, while the other involves simply recognising and picking the only available option.

But our latest research published in the journal Imaging…

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