By Neuroscience News, August 4, 2022

Summary: The brain constantly acts as a prediction machine, continuously comparing sensory information with internal predictions.

Source: Max Planck Institute

This is in line with a recent theory on how our brain works: it is a prediction machine, which continuously compares sensory information that we pick up (such as images, sounds and language) with internal predictions.“This theoretical idea is extremely popular in neuroscience, but the existing evidence for it is often indirect and restricted to artificial situations,” says lead author Micha Heilbron.“I would really like to understand precisely how this works and test it in different situations.”

Brain research into this phenomenon is usually done in an artificial setting, Heilbron reveals. To evoke predictions, participants are asked to stare at a single pattern of moving dots for half an hour, or listen to simple patterns in sounds like ‘beep beep boop, beep beep boop.’

Source: Your Brain Is a Prediction Machine That Is Always Active – Neuroscience News