Freie Universität Berlin, Institute for Biology-Neurobiology, Berlin, Germany.
Proc Biol Sci. 2011 Mar 22;278(1707):930-9. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2010.2325. Epub 2010 Dec 15.
Until the advent of modern neuroscience, free will used to be a theological and a metaphysical concept, debated with little reference to brain function. Today, with ever increasing understanding of neurons, circuits and cognition, this concept has become outdated and any metaphysical account of free will is rightfully rejected. The consequence is not, however, that we become mindless automata responding predictably to external stimuli. On the contrary, accumulating evidence also from brains much smaller than ours points towards a general organization of brain function that incorporates flexible decision-making on the basis of complex computations negotiating internal and external processing. The adaptive value of such an organization consists of being unpredictable for competitors, prey or predators, as well as being able to explore the hidden resource deterministic automats would never find. At the same time, this organization allows all animals to respond efficiently with tried-and-tested behaviours to predictable and reliable stimuli. As has been the case so many times in the history of neuroscience, invertebrate model systems are spearheading these research efforts. This comparatively recent evidence indicates that one common ability of most if not all brains is to choose among different behavioural options even in the absence of differences in the environment and perform genuinely novel acts. Therefore, it seems a reasonable effort for any neurobiologist to join and support a rather illustrious list of scholars who are trying to wrestle the term 'free will' from its metaphysical ancestry. The goal is to arrive at a scientific concept of free will, starting from these recently discovered processes with a strong emphasis on the neurobiological mechanisms underlying them.
直到现代神经科学出现之前，自由意志一直是一个神学和形而上学的概念，在讨论时很少参考大脑功能。如今，随着对神经元、回路和认知的理解不断增加，这个概念已经过时，任何关于自由意志的形而上学解释都被正确地拒绝。但结果并不是我们变成了没有思想的自动机，对外界刺激做出可预测的反应。相反，越来越多的证据表明，即使是比我们的大脑小得多的大脑，也指向了一种普遍的大脑功能组织，这种组织基于复杂的计算，在内部和外部处理之间进行协商，从而实现灵活的决策。这种组织的适应性价值在于，它对竞争对手、猎物或捕食者来说是不可预测的，同时也能够探索确定性自动机永远找不到的隐藏资源。与此同时，这种组织允许所有动物对可预测和可靠的刺激有效地做出经过验证和可靠的行为反应。就像神经科学历史上的许多次一样，无脊椎动物模型系统正在引领这些研究工作。这些相对较新的证据表明，即使在环境没有差异的情况下，大多数（如果不是全部）大脑都有一个共同的能力，即在不同的行为选择中进行选择，并真正执行新颖的行为。因此，对于任何神经生物学家来说，加入并支持一群试图将“自由意志”一词从其形而上学的起源中挣脱出来的学者的行列，是一项合理的努力。目标是从这些最近发现的过程出发，形成一个自由意志的科学概念，重点强调它们背后的神经生物学机制。
