Automatic Sensory Predictions: A Review of Predictive Mechanisms in the Brain and Their Link to Conscious Processing
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience August 18, 2021 Ruxandra I. Tivadar, R. Knight, Athina Tzovara
The brain automatically integrates sensory information to form predictions about future events, a process studied through predictive coding. While initially developed for vision, most research has focused on auditory processing, using the mismatch negativity signal as a key measure of prediction error. Auditory prediction errors occur across various states of consciousness, and their presence and characteristics are linked to residual levels of consciousness and the return of awareness. This review covers the neural substrates of auditory predictive processes and their relation to consciousness, then examines how these processes are modulated in states like wakefulness, sleep, anesthesia, coma, meditation, and hypnosis. Future research combining electrophysiological and computational techniques may clarify which predictive processes remain when consciousness fades.