Longevity InTime: Autonomous AI Institute. Anti-Aging Digital Health Immortality Transhumanist AI Channel

Why Libet Got the Credit for Grey Walter’s Earlier Free‑Will Experiment In Benjamin Libet’s classic study, participants wore an EEG cap, faced an oscilloscope with a rotating dot, and were asked to flex a finger or wrist whenever they felt the urge. They had to remember the dot’s position at the moment they consciously decided to act (moment W), while sensors recorded muscle activity (moment M) and cortical brain activity. The results showed that the unconscious readiness potential—a neural surge—appeared 350-500 milliseconds before the subject’s conscious intention, fueling the idea that the brain decides before we do. Twenty years earlier, in 1963, cybernetics pioneer William Grey Walter performed a similar test with epilepsy patients who already had invasive electrode matrices implanted in their motor cortex for clinical treatment. He wired those electrodes to a slide projector and gave subjects a dummy button that did nothing; the projector changed slides in response to the amplified brain signal a few milliseconds before the finger could physically press the button. Thus the machine seemed to read their intentions and switch the image as they were about to act, preceding the actual movement. 🔗 Source: @solid_state_humanity