Libet's Legacy: A Primer to the Neuroscience of Volition.

This paper provides a comprehensive review of the neuroscience of volition, summarizing research since its inception. The authors systematically reviewed 2,220 publications, with detailed consideration of nearly 500 relevant papers. They introduce Benjamin Libet's seminal work from the 1960s to 1980s and discuss common criticisms of his methods, including issues with temporal introspection, interpretation of physiological correlates, and conceptual problems. The review concludes with recent advances and future directions, highlighting modern methodological approaches and important findings. The authors aim to make the field accessible to newcomers and experts alike, covering both well-established research and under-discussed ideas.

Study at a glance

Abstract

The neuroscience of volition is an emerging subfield of the brain sciences, with hundreds of papers on the role of consciousness in action formation published each year. This makes the state-of-the-art in the discipline poorly accessible to newcomers and difficult to follow even for experts in the field. Here we provide a comprehensive summary of research in this field since its inception that will be useful to both groups. We also discuss important ideas that have received little coverage in the literature so far. We systematically reviewed a set of 2220 publications, with detailed consideration of almost 500 of the most relevant papers. We provide a thorough introduction to the seminal work of Benjamin Libet from the 1960s to 1980s. We also discuss common criticisms of Libet's method, including temporal introspection, the interpretation of the assumed physiological correlates of volition, and various conceptual issues. We conclude with recent advances and potential future directions in the field, highlighting modern methodological approaches to volition, as well as important recent findings.