Readiness potential when you pick up a pencil

You pick up a pencil to doodle as you answer but you don’t think that when we pick up a pencil we have no experience of the fine control of individual muscles yet large areas of the brain (cortex and cerebellum) implement this. There are many other examples which indicate that our brains are constantly performing functions that are not part of our conscious experience.

Research done through EEG’s (Electroencephalography) from subjects who were about to move a finger and discovered that there is an increase in scalp potential before the movement takes place. The increase in potential can start as long as 2 seconds or so before the movement and is known as the "readiness potential" (Bereitschaftspotential).