The complex nature of agency attribution: Neurophysiological signatures associated to monitoring self vs. external erroneous actions
Alba Gómez-Andrés, Toni Cunillera, David Cucurell, Antoni Rodríguez‐fornells
iScience July 20, 2026 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2026.116803 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Experimental ERP study (three experiments) Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Healthy participants |
| Keywords | Agency philosophy Neurophysiology Sense of agency Neuroimaging Electroencephalography Cognitive science Cognitive psychology Data science |
| Key findings | Content agency prediction errors elicit parietal P600-delta activity linked to external agency attribution, while temporal prediction errors reduce internal agency attribution and evoke feedback-related potentials. |
Abstract
Agency attribution refers to the ability to recognize ourselves as the authors of our actions and their consequences and is central to subjective experience and individual responsibility. Across three event-related potential (ERP) experiments, we characterized electrophysiological and oscillatory neural responses associated with agency prediction errors in healthy participants. Experiments 1 and 3 showed that incongruent hand movements (content agency prediction errors) elicited parietal P600-delta oscillatory activity linked to the attribution of agency to an external source, possibly reflecting judgments of external control and the updating of predictive mental models. In contrast, temporal agency prediction errors induced by delayed movement outcomes (400 ms) reduced internal agency attribution and elicited feedback correct-related positivity (FCRP) and feedback-related negativity (FRN) during correct and erroneous responses, respectively, likely reflecting increased uncertainty and the reactivation of error-monitoring processes. These findings may help clarify neural mechanisms underlying disrupted agency in pathological conditions and the phenomenological experience of "mineness".