Redefining the Role of Limbic Areas in Cortical Processing
Lorena Chanes1, Lisa Feldman Barrett1
1Northeastern University, Department of Psychology, Boston, MA, USA; Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Psychiatry and the Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown, MA, USA.
Trends in Cognitive Sciences
|December 26, 2015
Summary
The brain uses past experiences to predict and construct perception and action. Limbic cortices provide feedback predictions, driving cortical processing and offering a unified framework for neural disorders.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Science
- Computational Neuroscience
Background:
- The brain actively constructs perception and action based on prior experience.
- Understanding information flow in the brain is crucial for explaining neural processes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose that information flow along laminar differentiation gradients in limbic cortices offers insight into cortical processing.
- To hypothesize that 'feedback' projections from limbic areas act as predictions driving cerebral cortex activity.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of information flow direction along laminar differentiation gradients.
- Examination of the role of limbic cortices and their projection patterns.
Main Results:
- Cortical limbic areas, characterized by simple laminar structures, project 'feedback' to less laminated areas.
- This 'feedback' is proposed to function as predictive signals.
Conclusions:
- The direction of information flow, particularly feedback from limbic cortices, is key to understanding predictive coding in the brain.
- This predictive coding framework unifies explanations for neural processes, disorders, and consciousness.
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