Decoding and Predicting Intentions from Neuroimaging Signals

There has been a long debate on the existence of brain signals that precede the outcome of decisions, even before subjects believe they are consciously making up their mind. Multivariate decoding of neuroimaging signals allows to extract such choice-predictive information contained in neural signals leading up to a decision. New results show that the specific outcome of free choices between different plans can be interpreted from brain activity, not only after a decision has been made, but even several seconds before it is made. This suggests that a causal chain of events can occur outside subjective awareness even before a subject makes up his/her mind. Such signals may in future be useful for brain-computer-interfacing.