8 Things Scientists Still Don't Understand About Your Brain

3. Do We Have Free Will?

The idea of free will seems like it must be far too abstract to be able to pick up in an MRI, surely this is the domain of philosophy not neuroscience?

Well, after letting the philosophers battle this one out for thousands of years, scientists have decided to have a go, and the results are a little disturbing.

In studies that were begun way back in the 1980s, and repeated more recently with the latest technology, test subjects were asked to perform the voluntary movement of moving their fingers. However, their brain activity showed that their subconscious was performing the act for them almost a full second before the conscious mind caught up.

Some think that this indicates that free will is in fact an illusion and that the brain is tricking us into believing that our actions are voluntary "after the fact." Others dismiss the data, or disagree with its conclusions, but some suspect that this is more to do with its uncomfortable implications than its scientific merit.