The Predictive Brain: Perception as a Controlled Hallucination

TLDROur brains continuously predict and construct our moment-to-moment experiences, resulting in perception as a controlled hallucination. This comprehensive neuroscientific theory of perception and action, known as predictive processing or active inference, suggests that perception is a product of unconscious inference and the brain's continuous generation of predictions.

Key insights

🧠Our brains are continuously predicting and constructing our experiences through a mixture of sensory information and expectations.

🔮Perception involves the brain's generation of predictions that shape our experience of the world, often resulting in illusions and biases.

💡This predictive processing framework provides a computational and neurophysiological account of perception and action, offering a new understanding of how our brains work.

🌍Predictive processing has implications for various fields, including computational psychiatry, as it provides insights into both neurotypical and atypical forms of experience.

There are challenges and puzzles within the predictive processing framework that require further investigation and exploration.

Q&A

What is predictive processing?

Predictive processing is a comprehensive neuroscientific theory that suggests perception is a product of unconscious inference and the brain's generation of predictions.

How does predictive processing shape our experiences?

Predictive processing involves the brain continuously generating predictions that shape our perception of the world, often resulting in illusions and biases.

What are the implications of predictive processing?

This framework provides insights into various fields, such as computational psychiatry, and offers a new understanding of how our brains work and how they can go awry.

What is the role of predictions in perception?

Predictions play a crucial role in perception as they help the brain make sense of sensory information by incorporating prior knowledge and expectations.

What are some challenges within the predictive processing framework?

There are still puzzles and unanswered questions within this framework, such as the relationship between perception and action, the nature of conscious experiences, and the development of atypical perceptual experiences.

Timestamped Summary

00:03Perception is a controlled hallucination, with our brains continuously predicting and constructing our experiences.

08:27Predictive processing shapes our perception through the brain's generation of predictions.

10:59There is a comprehensive neuroscientific theory, known as predictive processing, that provides a computational and neurophysiological account of perception and action.

12:52Predictive processing has implications in computational psychiatry and offers insights into both neurotypical and atypical forms of experience.

13:08However, there are still challenges and puzzles within the predictive processing framework that require further investigation and exploration.