ABSTRACT
Self-determination and control of one’s actions are perhaps the adult hallmarks of normal human development. Young children intuit this when they assert that “you are not the boss of me,” as they yearn for greater autonomy. This attitude changes sequentially into the rebellion of the teenager and the independent stance of the young adult moving towards college and career, as they become the “chief executive officers” of their own lives. The biological and psychological mechanisms underlying these fundamental skills remain a central mystery of neuroscience and neuropsychology. The effort to define and identify the brain components and processes underlying this perhaps ultimate higher brain function is certainly one of the great challenges of these fields and thus generates great excitement and controversy.
