New directions in predictive processing

Hohwy, Jakob

doi:10.1111/mila.12281

Cited by 157 publications

(146 citation statements)

References 45 publications

(51 reference statements)

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“…Putting these elements together, we arrive at the powerful idea that the brain embodies a model of its environment (including the organism itself), and exerts control on this environment through statistical inference geared towards minimizing its own long-term prediction error. This ambitious framework has been the focus of much work across neuroscience, cognitive science, biology and philosophy (e.g., Metzinger & Wiese, 2017;Hohwy, 2020a;Mendonça et al, 2020). The point of minimizing prediction error in the long run average, is that this allows the organism to stay within its expected states -i.e., to stay alive.…”

Section: Common Themesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predictive processing as a systematic basis for identifying the neural correlates of consciousness

Hohwy

Seth

2020

PhiMiSci

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The search for the neural correlates of consciousness is in need of a systematic, principled foundation that can endow putative neural correlates with greater predictive and explanatory value. Here, we propose the predictive processing framework for brain function as a promising candidate for providing this systematic foundation. The proposal is motivated by that framework’s ability to address three general challenges to identifying the neural correlates of consciousness, and to satisfy two constraints common to many theories of consciousness. Implementing the search for neural correlates of consciousness through the lens of predictive processing delivers strong potential for predictive and explanatory value through detailed, systematic mappings between neural substrates and phenomenological structure. We conclude that the predictive processing framework, precisely because it at the outset is not itself a theory of consciousness, has significant potential for advancing the neuroscience of consciousness.

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Section: Common Themesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predictive processing as a systematic basis for identifying the neural correlates of consciousness

Hohwy

Seth

2020

PhiMiSci

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“…Predictive processing in the brain can occur in four basic ways, all analogous to familiar descriptions of scientific inference (for comprehensive reviews, see e.g., (Bogacz 2017, Buckley, Kim et al 2017, Yon, de Lange et al 2019, Hohwy 2020). The central principle for the operation of these four processes is that on average and over the long run, (statistical) surprise should be minimized: Perception.…”

Section: Core Properties Of Ppmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Putting these elements together, we arrive at the powerful idea that the brain embodies a model of its environment (including the organism itself), and exerts control on this environment through statistical inference geared towards minimizing its own long-term prediction error. This ambitious framework has been the focus of much work across neuroscience, cognitive science, biology and philosophy (e.g., (Metzinger and Wiese 2017, Hohwy 2020, Mendonça, Curado et al 2020). The point of minimizing prediction error in the long run average, is that this allows the organism to stay within its expected states -i.e., to stay alive.…”

Section: Core Properties Of Ppmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At the theoretical level, there are emerging basic formulations of predictive processing (or active inference, or the free energy principle, or adjacent or kindred formulations) directed at consciousness (or sentience, or self) (Carhart-Harris, Leech et al 2014, Rudrauf, Bennequin et al 2017, Friston 2018, Williford, Bennequin et al 2018, Clark 2019, Chang, Biehl et al 2020, Friston, Wiese et al 2020, including the emergence of the problem of consciousness itself (Clark, Friston et al 2019), or how PP might supersede, dissolve, or deflate the 'hard problem' of consciousness (Seth 2016, Clark 2019. There has been a significant amount of research mapping a large set of properties of PP to many different aspects of conscious phenomenology (Hohwy 2013, Clark 2016, Seth 2019, Hohwy 2020. Theories of consciousness are being interpreted in the light of PP, such as Heterophenomenology (Dołęga and Dewhurst 2020), Global neuronal workspace theory (Hohwy 2013, Whyte 2019, Whyte and Smith 2020, versions of Higher-order thought theory and Metacognitive theories (Hohwy 2015, Sandved Smith, Hesp et al 2020, Attention-based theories (Marchi and Hohwy 2020), and Integrated information theory (for related discussion, see (Kanai, Chang et al 2019)).…”

Section: Predictive and Explanatory Power Of Pp As A Systematic Basismentioning

confidence: 99%

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Predictive processing as a systematic basis for identifying the neural correlates of consciousness

Hohwy¹,

Seth²

2020

Preprint

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The search for the neural correlates of consciousness is in need of a systematic, principled foundation that can endow putative neural correlates with greater predictive and explanatory value. Here, we propose the predictive processing framework for brain function as a promising candidate for providing this systematic foundation. The proposal is motivated by that framework’s ability to address three general challenges to finding the neural correlates of consciousness, and to satisfy two constraints common to many theories of consciousness. Implementing the search for neural correlates of consciousness through the lens of predictive processing delivers strong potential for predictive and explanatory value through detailed, systematic mappings between neural substrates and phenomenological structure. We conclude that the predictive processing framework, precisely because it at the outset is not itself a theory of consciousness, has significant potential for advancing the neuroscience of consciousness.

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“…A growing body of experimental work, rooted in the predictive processing framework (Clark, 2013;Hohwy, 2013Hohwy, , 2020Rao & Ballard, 1999), shows that perceptual experiences are influenced by beliefs or predictions about the world. Valid predictions have been shown to facilitate access to visual consciousness (Meijs, Slagter, De Lange, & Simon Van Gaal, 2018;Melloni, Schwiedrzik, Muller, Rodriguez, & Singer, 2011;Pinto, van Gaal, de Lange, Lamme, & Seth, 2015), reduce repetition suppression (Summerfield, Trittschuh, Monti, Mesulam, & Egner, 2008), improve metacognition (Sherman, Seth, Barrett, & Kanai, 2015), and aid interpretation under perceptual ambiguity (Aru, Rutiku, Wibral, Singer, & Melloni, 2016;Panichello et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sensorimotor predictions shape reported conscious visual experience in a breaking Continuous Flash Suppression task

Skora¹,

Seth²,

Scott³

2020

Preprint

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A growing body of work suggests that conscious experience and action are strongly intertwined. Recent accounts of predictive processing propose that conscious experience is influenced not only by passive predictions about the world, but also by predictions encompassing how the world changes in relation to our actions – that is, on predictions about sensorimotor contingencies. In this light, action emerges as an integral part of our experience of the world, shaping it in line with sensorimotor predictions.Motivated by this proposal, we tested the idea that valid sensorimotor predictions, such as learned associations between a stimulus and an action, shape conscious visual experience. We performed two experiments, leveraging instrumental conditioning to build sensorimotor predictions, linking distinct stimuli with simple actions (an index finger and little finger button press). Conditioning was immediately followed by a breaking continuous flash suppression (bCFS) task, measuring the speed of breakthrough into conscious awareness for different pairings between the stimulus and the prepared action; where the prepared action was congruent with the sensorimotor prediction, where it was incongruent with the sensorimotor prediction, where no action was associated with the stimulus, and where the stimulus had not previously been encountered (novel). In Experiment 1, counterbalancing of the bCFS task was achieved at the block level by having the same prepared action for each trial within a block, with action only differing between blocks. However, requiring repetition of the action within a block may have limited the action’s predictive salience. Experiment 2 avoided this repetition by counterbalancing the prepared action within blocks, thus maximising the predictive salience of the action. Analysis was conducted using mixed-effects modelling to assess the speed of conscious perception in the bCFS task. In Experiment 1, while the breakthrough times were numerically shorter for congruent than incongruent pairings, the analysis supported the null hypothesis of no influence from the sensorimotor predictions. In Experiment 2, the speed of access to consciousness was significantly faster for congruent than for incongruent or no-action pairings. A meta-analytic Bayes factor combining the two experiments provided further confirmation of this effect. Hence, we provide direct evidence for a key implication of the action-oriented predictive processing approach to conscious perception, namely that sensorimotor predictions directly shape our conscious experience of the world.

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New directions in predictive processing

Cited by 157 publications

References 45 publications

Predictive processing as a systematic basis for identifying the neural correlates of consciousness

Predictive processing as a systematic basis for identifying the neural correlates of consciousness

Predictive processing as a systematic basis for identifying the neural correlates of consciousness

Sensorimotor predictions shape reported conscious visual experience in a breaking Continuous Flash Suppression task

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