Prediction, cognition and the brain
Open Access
- 28 February 2010
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Frontiers Media SA in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
- Vol. 4, 25
- https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2010.00025
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.Keywords
This publication has 159 references indexed in Scilit:
- A Dual Role for Prediction Error in Associative LearningCerebral Cortex, 2008
- Top-down predictions in the cognitive brainBrain and Cognition, 2007
- Free-energy and the brainSynthese, 2007
- Evidence for a distributed hierarchy of action representation in the brainHuman Movement Science, 2007
- Vigilance, alertness, or sustained attention: physiological basis and measurementClinical Neurophysiology, 2006
- The Bayesian brain: the role of uncertainty in neural coding and computationTrends in Neurosciences, 2004
- Motor predictionCurrent Biology, 2001
- Forward Models for Physiological Motor ControlNeural Networks, 1996
- Role for supplementary motor area cells in planning several movements aheadNature, 1994
- Neural basis of the spontaneous optokinetic response produced by visual inversion.Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 1950