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Intentions in Action: Establishing the neural causes of intentional action

Objective

The neuroscientific study of intentional action has produced puzzling and contradictory results: intentions show up at a variety of brain locations, and up to ten seconds before a decision has been made. Recently, it has been argued that intentions do not underlie voluntary action at all. At the same time neural states have been found that could be correlated with future actions, suggesting a role for intentions after all. The proposed project suggests that the cause of these seemingly contrasting results lies in the heterogeneous composition of everyday actions, consisting of both immediate and future-directed components. The proposed research promises to go to the bottom of this controversy by investigation what types of actions can be accomplished without discrete states like intentions, and for what types of actions intentions are needed. It will do so by looking for common factors in brain states underlying actions using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Particularly, it will be investigated whether similarity in motor acts, actions, or contexts are crucial for finding commonalities in brain states.
Next, it will be investigated whether immediate actions and future actions differ with respect to the neural control processes, thereby directly testing the applicability of a philosophical distinction to neuroscientific research.

Finally, it will be assessed whether these processes are unique for self-chosen actions, or also apply to cued actions as well. This will relate the study of intentional action directly to adjacent scientific fields studying prospective memory and task sets.

By solving these issues the proposed research sets out to create a novel and detailed account of intentional action which will function as a framework for future research in philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EF

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Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2014

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Coordinator

CHARITE - UNIVERSITAETSMEDIZIN BERLIN
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 171 460,80
Address
Chariteplatz 1
10117 Berlin
Germany

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Region
Berlin Berlin Berlin
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 171 460,80
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