The ‘First Prior’: from Co-Embodiment to Co-Homeostasis in Early Life
Consciousness and Cognition January 5, 2021 Anna Ciaunica, Axel Constant, H. Preissl et al. preprint
The paper argues that the development of a minimal sense of self begins before birth, within the womb, through the processes of co-embodiment and co-homeostasis with the gestating parent. The authors contend that this prenatal period is a crucial, yet overlooked, aspect of the Predictive Processing and Active Inference framework, which holds that perceptions are shaped by prior experiences. They propose that the universal human experience of being carried and growing within another body fundamentally shapes the emergence of minimal selfhood and has implications for debates on consciousness, the self, and social cognition.