Prediction, cognition and the brain

Abstract

The term “predictive brain” depicts one of the most relevant concepts in cognitive neuroscience which emphasizes the importance of “looking into the future”, namely prediction, preparation, anticipation, prospection or expectations in various cognitive domains. Analogously, it has been suggested that predictive processing represents one of the fundamental principles of neural computations and that errors of prediction may be crucial for driving neural and cognitive processes as well as behavior. This review discusses research areas which have recognized the importance of prediction and introduces the relevant terminology and leading theories in the field in an attempt to abstract some generative mechanisms of predictive processing. Furthermore, we discuss the process of testing the validity of postulated expectations by matching these to the realized events and compare the subsequent processing of events which confirm to those which violate the initial predictions. We conclude by suggesting that, although a lot is known about this type of processing, there are still many open issues which need to be resolved before a unified theory of predictive processing can be postulated with regard to both cognitive and neural functioning.

A gesture-based virtual art program for children with severe motor impairments – development and pilot study

“…Anticipation is a sign of neural processing connected to perception, motor and cognitive control, and decision-making (15). The study results correspond to Reid's study on the influence of virtual reality on children with cerebral palsy, which concluded that environments that allowed creativity, expression and control provided the greatest increase in enjoyment, motivation and satisfaction for children with cerebral palsy (16).…”

The contribution of surprise to the prediction based modulation of fMRI responses

“…PC assumes a constant re-estimation and update of predictions, yet subjects were aware of the equal probability occurrence of repetitions and alternations during the neutral conditions, thus it is possible that no predictions were formed during this specific condition, interrupting the constant up-dating and re-estimation of predictions. Indeed, predictable events usually occur in a non-random fashion, allowing the brain to infer about the probabilistic or deterministic regularity of the different events (Bubic, von Cramon, & Schubotz, 2010). However, previous studies proposed that similar predictive strategies are employed to attempt the extraction of a pattern within random inputs as well (Schubotz & von Cramon, 2002).…”

Is there a common oscillatory brain mechanism for producing and predicting language?

“…In more detail (see Glossary), pre-activation (i.e., prediction) spreads across many different hierarchical substeps, converting internal abstract Forward Models into pre-stimulus Sensory Predictions (see Figure 1; Bubic, von Cramon & Schubotz, 2010;Friston, 2005;Poeppel, Idsardi & van Wassenhove, 2008). Based on the information represented in the Forward Model, the brain communicates top-down with more peripheral sensory regions dedicated to the interaction with the environment.…”