Goldsmiths, University of London - I knew I was going to do that

A new study has looked at how quickly the pre-conscious mind makes decisions before they become conscious. Volunteers at Goldsmiths, University of London were shown faces that were only slightly different from each other, and told to choose which they found more attractive. Their brain waves were then recorded in the time before a judgment was made. Rather than focusing on the actual features that make people "attractive", the study concentrated on the decision-making process. The results show that recognisable patterns of brain activity happen "well before" a conscious choice is made, but the researchers concluded that predicting decisions before they were made was not possible.