An Active Inference Account of Touch and Verbal Communication in Therapy.
Joohan Kim, Jorge E. Esteves, Francesco Cerritelli, Karl Friston
Frontiers in Psychology 2022 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.828952 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Interventions | Guided touch manual touch verbal communication inner communication self-talk training |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Markov blanket Abduction Active inference Communication Guided touch Interoception |
| Key points | Argues that chronic pain and emotional disorders stem from distorted interoceptive and proprioceptive inference within an abductive active inference framework. Proposes that weakening top-level prior beliefs and installing new ones through inner communication combined with manual touch may treat these conditions, and offers testable hypotheses for future experiments. |
Abstract
This paper offers theoretical explanations for why "guided touch" or manual touch with verbal communication can be an effective way of treating the body (e.g., chronic pain) and the mind (e.g., emotional disorders). The active inference theory suggests that chronic pain and emotional disorders can be attributed to distorted and exaggerated patterns of interoceptive and proprioceptive inference. We propose that the nature of active inference is abductive. As such, to rectify aberrant active inference processes, we should change the "Rule" of abduction, or the "prior beliefs" entailed by a patient's generative model. This means pre-existing generative models should be replaced with new models. To facilitate such replacement-or updating-the present treatment proposes that we should weaken prior beliefs, especially the one at the top level of hierarchical generative models, thereby altering the sense of agency, and redeploying attention. Then, a new prior belief can be installed through inner communication along with manual touch. The present paper proposes several hypotheses for possible experimental studies. If touch with verbal guidance is proven to be effective, this would demonstrate the relevance of active inference and the implicit prediction model at a behavioral level. Furthermore, it would open new possibilities of employing inner communication interventions, including self-talk training, for a wide range of psychological and physical therapies.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. | 2004 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mechanisms of mindfulness | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective | 2011 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART): a framework for understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of mindfulness | 2012 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cited by 1
Cites 10
- Active interoceptive inference and the emotional brain Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences October 11, 2016
- Towards a computational phenomenology of mental action: modelling meta-awareness and attentional control with deep parametric active inference. Neuroscience of Consciousness 2021
- Losing Ourselves: Active Inference, Depersonalization, and Meditation. Frontiers in Psychology 2020
- Co-emergence Reinforcement and Its Relevance to Interoceptive Desensitization in Mindfulness and Therapies Aiming at Transdiagnostic Efficacy Frontiers in Psychology December 22, 2020
- Am I Self-Conscious? (Or Does Self-Organization Entail Self-Consciousness?) Frontiers in Psychology April 24, 2018
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