2010 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Neural substrates underlying decision making based on free will
| Project/Area Number |
21800014
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Research Field |
Neuroscience in general
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| Research Institution | The University of Tokyo |
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Principal Investigator |
UMEDA Kazumasa The University of Tokyo, 大学院・医学系研究科, 助教 (50548518)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2009 – 2010
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| Keywords | 認知神経科学 / 脳波 / 経頭蓋時期刺激 / 意思決定 |
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| Research Abstract |
The brain has an ability to access to various processing in the brain and to manipulate it in top-down manner. The ability of human being is overwhelming relative to the other animals both in quantitative and qualitative aspects. I hypothesized an existence of 'free will' and studied how top-down signals come into effect in the process of decision making. I applied transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) over the human prefrontal cortex and evaluated dynamics of effective connectivity from the prefrontal cortex. We found a change in TMS-EP dependent of task difficulty and behavioral performance. The results suggest that the efficiency of signal transmission from the prefrontal cortex changes dynamically depending on the strength of bottom-up signals.
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