Volitional behaviors can be construed as “work” (extrinsically motivated) or as “fun” (intrinsically motivated). When volitional behaviors are construed as an obligation to work, completing the behavior depletes a consumer, and subsequent self-control becomes more difficult. When volitional behaviors are construed as an opportunity to have fun, completing the behavior vitalizes a consumer, and ...

Bell's phenomenon is a physiological phenomenon wherein the eye ball involuntarily rolls upward during eyelid closing. Although this phenomenon occurs in healthy individuals, the neural mechanism related to Bell's phenomenon has not yet been identified. We aimed to investigate the brain regions relevant to Bell's phenomenon and volitional eye movement using [15O] H2O and positron emission tomog...

This study examined the volitional and magnetically-evoked neuromuscular performance of the quadriceps femoris at functional knee joint angles adjacent to full extension. Indices of volitional and magnetically-evoked neuromuscular performance (N=15 healthy males, 23.5 ± 2.9 years, 71.5 ± 5.4 kg, 176.5 ± 5.5 cm) were obtained at 25°, 35° and 45° of knee flexion. Results showed that volitional an...

To locomote stably, animals must coordinate volitional actions that change posture with opposing reflexes that hold posture constant [1–8]. These conflicting actions are thought to necessitate integrated control, in which reflexes are modulated to permit or even produce volitional movements [9–14]. Here we report that larval zebrafish (Danio rerio) utilize a simpler control scheme featuring ind...

Volitional inhibition is the voluntary prevention of a prepared movement. Here we ask whether primary motor cortex (M1) is a site of convergence of cortical activity associated with movement preparation and volitional inhibition. Volitional inhibition was studied by presenting a stop signal before execution of an anticipated response that requires a key lift to intercept a revolving dial. Motor...

The information generated by one person during volitional study (a sequence of study episodes of their own choosing) is presented to a following participant during “yoked” study blocks. By fixing the order and timing of study opportunities, comparing volitional and yoked encoding measures the effect of making decisions about how to study on memory perormance. Enhancements in memory for “volitio...

The readiness potential (RP) is one of the most controversial topics in neuroscience and philosophy due to its perceived relevance to the role of conscious willing in action. Libet and colleagues reported that RP onset precedes both volitional movement and conscious awareness of willing that movement, suggesting that the experience of conscious will may not cause volitional movement (Libet, Gle...

Health behavior interventions may have different effects when targeting individuals at different stages of change. A 'motivation' stage, during which intentions are formed, has been distinguished from a 'volition' stage, implying that the latter requires self-regulatory effort in implementing and maintaining behavior. To test this stage assumption, an action control intervention (self-monitorin...