Human decisions are entirely caused by prior brain states
The extent to which human decisions are entirely caused by prior brain states is actively contested, with some neuroscientific work emphasizing deterministic neural correlates and decision dynamics, while philosophical and systems-level frameworks defend emergent agency and computational irreducibility.
The retrieved literature shows a division between empirical and materialist studies showing strong neural correlates and deterministic precursors to choices (supporting the claim) and conceptual or compatibilist frameworks arguing against strict reductionist determinism or highlighting emergent agency and computational complexity (refuting or undercutting the absoluteness of the claim). Therefore, the balance of evidence is classified as CONTESTED.
Some neuroscientific and materialist frameworks argue that human decisions are driven by prior brain states, while other frameworks contest this view.
Alex G. Armstrong, Yurii Vlasov. Neural Correlates of Perceptual Decision Making in Primary Somatosensory Cortex. 2025. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.03.29.646003
Paper 0 demonstrates that high-dimensional neural activity in sensory cortex collapses to latent variables that drive perceptual decisions.
Sinha C. Transforming Psychological Jurisprudence: Beyond Passivity and Determinism.. 2026. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12124-026-09977-0
Paper 4 argues for a compatibilist framework that preserves human agency rather than reducing action to passive neuroscientific determinism.
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Serrado R. Consciousness, determinism, and free will in nineteenth-century Portuguese medical thought: Resonances with contemporary neuroscience.. 2026. https://doi.org/10.1080/0964704x.2026.2636457
Paper 3 reviews historical and contemporary materialist arguments that free will is merely the subjective manifestation of underlying neuronal activity.
Kansala C, Cicek E, Nkansah-Okoree VB, Golding AW, Murugan NJ, Rouleau N. Superstitious conditioning shapes the illusory experience of free will under causal determinism.. 2026. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2026.1832135
Paper 6 models the subjective experience of free will as a conditioned illusion arising from deterministic premotor and motor activations.
Reis R. COMPUTATIONAL IRREDUCIBILITY AND THE PHENOMENOLOGY OF FREE WILL. 2025. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/e5ajp_v1
Paper 7 argues that computational irreducibility creates an epistemic gap between metaphysical determinism and actual predictability, grounding real deliberation.
Tretter F, Löffler-Stastka H, Braun HA, Schleim S, Falkenburg B, Hastedt H, Northoff G, Fuchs T, Kotchoubey B, Maderthaner R, Draguhn A. Progress and ongoing conceptual challenges "on the way to integrative human neuroscience"-ten years after.. 2026. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnint.2026.1792478
Paper 9 critiques strict reductionist and deterministic assumptions in neuroscience, advocating for systems-level approaches that respect mental complexity.
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