Time, consciousness, and the readiness potential.

This article discusses time, consciousness, and the readiness potential (RP) Time is a dimension of the Universe in modern physics, yet whether time is a physical entity or a subjective representation seems an unsettled issue. There are evident discrepancies between the time duration of, or intervals between, the elements of our subjective experience and the timing and duration of neuronal functions and mechanisms. The description of a recordable negative macropotential originating in supplementary motor and motor cortices one to two seconds before a voluntary action provided evidence that setting the movement organization into operation takes time and that this time can be longer than intuitively. The observation has limits in its comparing measurements from different domains, yet it raised a scientific case and was expanded to philosophical dimensions, with a resulting discussion that also questioned the functional significance of the RP itself. Timing, time processing, and the representation of temporal information stand as intrinsic properties of neural function, conceivably distributed across a network of neural regions and/or locally computed. The temporal processing is not invariant across conditions. It is state-dependent and varies with the changes in functional requirements, and involves network dynamics, brain functional status, required efficiency, and emotional condition. Network activation is known to depend on circuit complexity, axon wiring, and functional div...
Source: Journal of Psychophysiology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research