Tracing the neural trajectories of evidence accumulation and motor preparation processes during voluntary decisions

Abstract Voluntary decisions have previously been described by where they arise in the brain and how actions corresponding to one’s choice are prepared. However, the processes by which these internally guided decisions are formed and translated into action remain unclear. We tested whether neural signatures of evidence accumulation and motor preparation – established in perceptual decision-making – are also observed during voluntary decisions. Forty-nine adults made voluntary (free choice between two options) and forced (single specified choice) decisions while electroencephalography was recorded. To isolate decision formation from action selection, all responses were made with a right-handed keypress. After applying signal deconvolution and current source density transformations, we examined three signals: the centro-parietal positivity (CPP), Mu/Beta (8 – 30 Hz) amplitudes, and a left-hemisphere readiness potential contralateral to the response hand. For both voluntary and forced decisions, CPP and Mu/Beta amplitudes showed hallmark accumulation-to-bound dynamics – faster responses had steeper ramping signals that converged to stereotyped pre-response amplitude levels. The left-hemisphere readiness potential likewise showed convergence to a pre-response level but with less reliable evidence for RT-dependent slope scaling, resembling a late, effector-specific motor gate rather than an evolving decision variable. Waveform amplitudes across the time course of these signals also did not differ reliably between voluntary and forced decisions. Our results indicate that, like perceptual decisions, voluntary choices are also formed by a graded accumulation process that culminates in a motor action, with the CPP indexing an evolving decision variable and Mu/Beta indexing effector-specific motor readiness.