Brain Function: Free Energy,
Predictive Processing and Active Inference
Ioana Miruna BALMUS2, 3 *, Alin CIOBICA4-6
1
Prof., PhD, MD, Leeds Teaching Hospitals, NHS Trust,
Leeds University, UK.
2
Researcher and Postdoctoral Fellow, PhD, 2Department
of Exact Sciences and Natural Sciences - Institute of Interdisciplinary
Research, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Iasi, Romania.
3
Postdoctoral fellow, PhD, Doctoral School of Biology,
Faculty of Biology, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Iasi, Romania.
4
Senior Researcher, PhD., 4Department of Biology, Faculty
of Biology, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Iasi, Romania;
5
Romanian Academy, Center of Biomedical Research, Iasi,
Romania;
6
Academy of Romanian Scientists, Splaiul
Independentei nr. 54, Sector 5, 050094 Bucuresti, Romania.
*Corresponding
address: balmus.ioanamiruna@yahoo.com
Abstract A potential new theory of brain function based on
Bayesian inference could be that the brain is a predictive processing system
that generates internal models of the world to make predictions about future
sensory inputs. According to this theory, the brain generates internal models based
on prior beliefs and past experiences, which are used to make predictions about
future sensory inputs. In summary, the free energy principle focuses on minimizing
the difference between the predicted and actual sensory inputs using a
hierarchical generative model, while the predictive processing theory focuses
on generating and updating internal models to make predictions about future
sensory inputs.
Key words: Bayesian
inference, free energy principle, sensory inputs, brain function, predictive
processing.
DOI https://doi.org/10.56082/annalsarscibio.2023.1.108
