The proactive brain: using analogies and associations to generate predictions

Rather than passively ‘waiting’ to be activated by sensations, it is proposed that the human brain is continuously busy generating predictions that approximate the relevant future. Building on previous work, this proposal posits that rudimentary information is extracted rapidly from the input to der...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Trends in cognitive sciences 2007-07, Vol.11 (7), p.280-289
Main Author: Bar, Moshe
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anatomical correlates of behavior
Arousal - physiology
Association Learning - physiology
Attention - physiology
Behavioral psychophysiology
Biological and medical sciences
Brain - physiology
Choice Behavior - physiology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Hippocampus - physiology
Humans
Memory - physiology
Mental Processes - physiology
Models, Neurological
Neurology
Parahippocampal Gyrus - physiology
Parietal Lobe - physiology
Perception - physiology
Prefrontal Cortex - physiology
Problem Solving - physiology
Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Temporal Lobe - physiology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Rather than passively ‘waiting’ to be activated by sensations, it is proposed that the human brain is continuously busy generating predictions that approximate the relevant future. Building on previous work, this proposal posits that rudimentary information is extracted rapidly from the input to derive analogies linking that input with representations in memory. The linked stored representations then activate the associations that are relevant in the specific context, which provides focused predictions. These predictions facilitate perception and cognition by pre-sensitizing relevant representations. Predictions regarding complex information, such as those required in social interactions, integrate multiple analogies. This cognitive neuroscience framework can help explain a variety of phenomena, ranging from recognition to first impressions, and from the brain's ‘default mode’ to a host of mental disorders.
ISSN:1364-6613
1879-307X
DOI:10.1016/j.tics.2007.05.005