Neural glitches and agency
A paper in Neuron reports that spontaneous fluctuations in neural activity seems to affect intentional action. The activity is pretty low-level - pushing a button at a signal - and the effect of spontaneous fluctuation was small (no effect on reaction time; the effect was limited to the force of the button press). Nevertheless, this might be sufficient by itself to make the difference between success and failure at performing a task.
It is common for philosophers to use examples in which agents succeed or fail at a task due to random neural glitches. This is experimental evidence for the existence of such glitches.
How do they know those are glitches, and not normal functioning?
Posted by: Tanasije Gjorgoski | October 13, 2007 at 03:28 AM
The fluctuations were in (apparently) non-task related areas of the brain; they are the fluctuations associated with being in the resting state. And the subjects had no intention of varying the force of their button pressing. It is hardly knock-down evidence; merely suggestive.
Posted by: Neil | October 13, 2007 at 07:44 PM