Testing Predictive Coding
Dimitris Pinotsis, PhD
Associate Professor, Centre for Mathematical Neuroscience and Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of London-City
Research Affiliate, The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Predictive Coding (PC) is a theory of brain function based on ideas from Bayesian inference and machine learning. It suggests that the brain tries to understand the world by generating predictions about the information that should be present in the world. The brain searches for these predictions. In this context, brain activity represents the brain’s predictions and the discrepancies between them and the information the brain receives, called prediction errors. Then, understanding the world amounts to minimizing prediction errors.
Despite its successes, whether PC is implemented by the brain is an open question. I will discuss tests that assess evidence in support of PC in brain data. I will use data from animal and human studies and different brain imaging modalities and tasks to show that the brain seemed to represent predictions of sensory signals. Also, that these predictions were different in schizophrenics compared to controls.
November 19th, 2021-1:30pm
Mount Sinai West
Room 10G50
Zoom info: https://mssm.zoom.us/j/89013482177
Friday, November 19, 2021 at 1:30pm to 2:30pm
Mount Sinai West , Room 10G50