Bayesian Filtering with Multiple Internal Models: Toward a Theory of Social Intelligence

Federated inference and belief sharing

This paper concerns the distributed intelligence or federated inference that emerges under belief-sharing among agents who share a common world-and world model. Imagine, for example, several animals keeping a lookout for predators. Their collective surveillance rests upon being able to communicate their beliefs-about what they see-among themselves. But, how is this possible? Here, we show how all the necessary components arise from minimising free energy. We use numerical studies to simulate the generation, acquisition and emergence of language in synthetic agents. Specifically, we consider inference, learning and selection as minimising the variational free energy of posterior (i.e., Bayesian) beliefs about the states, parameters and structure of generative models, respectively. The common theme-that attends these optimisation processes-is the selection of actions that minimise expected free energy, leading to active inference, learning and model selection (a.k.a., structure learning). We first illustrate the role of communication in resolving uncertainty about the latent states of a partially observed world, on which agents have complementary perspectives. We then consider the acquisition of the requisite language-entailed by a likelihood mapping from an agent's beliefs to their overt expression (e.g., speech)-showing that language can be transmitted across generations by active learning. Finally, we show that language is an emergent property of free energy minimisation, when agents operate within the same econiche. We conclude with a discussion of various perspectives on these phenomena; ranging from cultural niche construction, through federated learning, to the emergence of complexity in ensembles of self-organising systems.

Path integrals, particular kinds, and strange things

This paper describes a path integral formulation of the free energy principle. The ensuing account expresses the paths or trajectories that a particle takes as it evolves over time. The main results are a method or principle of least action that can be used to emulate the behaviour of particles in open exchange with their external milieu. Particles are defined by a particular partition, in which internal states are individuated from external states by active and sensory blanket states. The variational principle at hand allows one to interpret internal dynamics-of certain kinds of particles-as inferring external states that are hidden behind blanket states. We consider different kinds of particles, and to what extent they can be imbued with an elementary form of inference or sentience. Specifically, we consider the distinction between dissipative and conservative particles, inert and active particles and, finally, ordinary and strange particles. Strange particles can be described as inferring their own actions, endowing them with apparent autonomy or agency. In short-of the kinds of particles afforded by a particular partition-strange kinds may be apt for describing sentient behaviour.

Predictive coding and stochastic resonance as fundamental principles of auditory phantom perception

Mechanistic insight is achieved only when experiments are employed to test formal or computational models. Furthermore, in analogy to lesion studies, phantom perception may serve as a vehicle to understand the fundamental processing principles underlying healthy auditory perception. With a special focus on tinnitus-as the prime example of auditory phantom perception-we review recent work at the intersection of artificial intelligence, psychology and neuroscience. In particular, we discuss why everyone with tinnitus suffers from (at least hidden) hearing loss, but not everyone with hearing loss suffers from tinnitus. We argue that intrinsic neural noise is generated and amplified along the auditory pathway as a compensatory mechanism to restore normal hearing based on adaptive stochastic resonance. The neural noise increase can then be misinterpreted as auditory input and perceived as tinnitus. This mechanism can be formalized in the Bayesian brain framework, where the percept (posterior) assimilates a prior prediction (brain's expectations) and likelihood (bottom-up neural signal). A higher mean and lower variance (i.e. enhanced precision) of the likelihood shifts the posterior, evincing a misinterpretation of sensory evidence, which may be further confounded by plastic changes in the brain that underwrite prior predictions. Hence, two fundamental processing principles provide the most explanatory power for the emergence of auditory phantom perceptions: predictive coding as a top-down and adaptive stochastic resonance as a complementary bottom-up mechanism. We conclude that both principles also play a crucial role in healthy auditory perception. Finally, in the context of neuroscience-inspired artificial intelligence, both processing principles may serve to improve contemporary machine learning techniques.

Myth of objectivity and the origin of symbols

An age-old challenge in epistemology and moral philosophy is whether objectivity exists independent of subjective perspective. Alfred North Whitehead labeled it a "fallacy of misplaced concreteness"; after all, knowledge is represented elusively in symbols. I employ the free energy principle (FEP) to argue that the belief in moral objectivity, although perhaps fallacious, amounts to an ancient and universal human myth that is essential for our symbolic capacity. To perceive any object in a world of non-diminishing (perhaps irreducible) uncertainty, according to the FEP, its constituent parts must display common probabilistic tendencies, known as statistical beliefs, prior to its interpretation, or active inference, as a stable entity. Behavioral bias, subjective emotions, and social norms scale the scope of identity by coalescing agents with otherwise disparate goals and aligning their perspectives into a coherent structure. I argue that by declaring belief in norms as objective, e.g., expressing that a particular theft or infidelity was generally wrong, our ancestors psychologically constructed a type of identity bound only by shared faith in a perspective that technically transcended individual subjectivity. Signaling explicit belief in what were previously non-symbolic norms, as seen in many non-human animals, simulates a top-down point of view of our social interactions and thereby constructs our cultural niche and symbolic capacity. I demonstrate that, largely by contrasting with overly reductive analytical models that assume individual rational pursuit of extrinsic rewards, shared belief in moral conceptions, i.e., what amounts to a religious faith, remains a motivational cornerstone of our language, economic and civic institutions, stories, and psychology. Finally, I hypothesize that our bias for familiar accents (shibboleth), plausibly represents the phylogenetic and ontogenetic contextual origins of our impulse to minimize social surprise by declaring belief in the myth of objectivity.

The interpersonal computational psychiatry of social coordination in schizophrenia

Impairments in social coordination form a core dimension of various psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia. Advances in interpersonal and computational psychiatry support a major change in studying social coordination in schizophrenia. Although these developments provided novel perspectives to study how interpersonal activities shape coordination and to examine computational mechanisms, direct attempts to integrate the two methodologies have been sparse. Here, we propose an interpersonal computational framework that (1) leverages the active inference framework to model aberrant social coordination processes in schizophrenia and (2) incorporates dynamical system models to dissect intrapersonal and interpersonal synchronisation to inform a statistical model based on active inference. We discuss how this interpersonal computational psychiatry framework can elucidate the aberrant processes leading to psychopathology, with schizophrenia as an example, and highlight how it might aid clinical intervention and practice. Finally, we discuss challenges and opportunities for using the framework in studying social coordination impairments.

Active Vision in Binocular Depth Estimation: A Top-Down Perspective

Depth estimation is an ill-posed problem; objects of different shapes or dimensions, even if at different distances, may project to the same image on the retina. Our brain uses several cues for depth estimation, including monocular cues such as motion parallax and binocular cues such as diplopia. However, it remains unclear how the computations required for depth estimation are implemented in biologically plausible ways. State-of-the-art approaches to depth estimation based on deep neural networks implicitly describe the brain as a hierarchical feature detector. Instead, in this paper we propose an alternative approach that casts depth estimation as a problem of active inference. We show that depth can be inferred by inverting a hierarchical generative model that simultaneously predicts the eyes' projections from a 2D belief over an object. Model inversion consists of a series of biologically plausible homogeneous transformations based on Predictive Coding principles. Under the plausible assumption of a nonuniform fovea resolution, depth estimation favors an active vision strategy that fixates the object with the eyes, rendering the depth belief more accurate. This strategy is not realized by first fixating on a target and then estimating the depth; instead, it combines the two processes through action-perception cycles, with a similar mechanism of the saccades during object recognition. The proposed approach requires only local (top-down and bottom-up) message passing, which can be implemented in biologically plausible neural circuits.

A Variational Synthesis of Evolutionary and Developmental Dynamics

This paper introduces a variational formulation of natural selection, paying special attention to the nature of 'things' and the way that different 'kinds' of 'things' are individuated from-and influence-each other. We use the Bayesian mechanics of particular partitions to understand how slow phylogenetic processes constrain-and are constrained by-fast, phenotypic processes. The main result is a formulation of adaptive fitness as a path integral of phenotypic fitness. Paths of least action, at the phenotypic and phylogenetic scales, can then be read as inference and learning processes, respectively. In this view, a phenotype actively infers the state of its econiche under a generative model, whose parameters are learned via natural (Bayesian model) selection. The ensuing variational synthesis features some unexpected aspects. Perhaps the most notable is that it is not possible to describe or model a population of conspecifics per se. Rather, it is necessary to consider populations of distinct natural kinds that influence each other. This paper is limited to a description of the mathematical apparatus and accompanying ideas. Subsequent work will use these methods for simulations and numerical analyses-and identify points of contact with related mathematical formulations of evolution.

Rhythm May Be Key to Linking Language and Cognition in Young Infants: Evidence From Machine Learning

Rhythm is key to language acquisition. Across languages, rhythmic features highlight fundamental linguistic elements of the sound stream and structural relations among them. A sensitivity to rhythmic features, which begins in utero, is evident at birth. What is less clear is whether rhythm supports infants' earliest links between language and cognition. Prior evidence has documented that for infants as young as 3 and 4 months, listening to their native language (English) supports the core cognitive capacity of object categorization. This precocious link is initially part of a broader template: listening to a non-native language from the same rhythmic class as (e.g., German, but not Cantonese) and to vocalizations of non-human primates (e.g., lemur, Eulemur macaco flavifrons, but not birds e.g., zebra-finches, Taeniopygia guttata) provide English-acquiring infants the same cognitive advantage as does listening to their native language. Here, we implement a machine-learning (ML) approach to ask whether there are acoustic properties, available on the surface of these vocalizations, that permit infants' to identify which vocalizations are candidate links to cognition. We provided the model with a robust sample of vocalizations that, from the vantage point of English-acquiring 4-month-olds, either support object categorization (English, German, lemur vocalizations) or fail to do so (Cantonese, zebra-finch vocalizations). We assess (a) whether supervised ML classification models can distinguish those vocalizations that support cognition from those that do not, and (b) which class(es) of acoustic features (including rhythmic, spectral envelope, and pitch features) best support that classification. Our analysis reveals that principal components derived from rhythm-relevant acoustic features were among the most robust in supporting the classification. Classifications performed using temporal envelope components were also robust. These new findings provide in principle evidence that infants' earliest links between vocalizations and cognition may be subserved by their perceptual sensitivity to rhythmic and spectral elements available on the surface of these vocalizations, and that these may guide infants' identification of candidate links to cognition.

A free energy principle for generic quantum systems

The Free Energy Principle (FEP) states that under suitable conditions of weak coupling, random dynamical systems with sufficient degrees of freedom will behave so as to minimize an upper bound, formalized as a variational free energy, on surprisal (a.k.a., self-information). This upper bound can be read as a Bayesian prediction error. Equivalently, its negative is a lower bound on Bayesian model evidence (a.k.a., marginal likelihood). In short, certain random dynamical systems evince a kind of self-evidencing. Here, we reformulate the FEP in the formal setting of spacetime-background free, scale-free quantum information theory. We show how generic quantum systems can be regarded as observers, which with the standard freedom of choice assumption become agents capable of assigning semantics to observational outcomes. We show how such agents minimize Bayesian prediction error in environments characterized by uncertainty, insufficient learning, and quantum contextuality. We show that in its quantum-theoretic formulation, the FEP is asymptotically equivalent to the Principle of Unitarity. Based on these results, we suggest that biological systems employ quantum coherence as a computational resource and - implicitly - as a communication resource. We summarize a number of problems for future research, particularly involving the resources required for classical communication and for detecting and responding to quantum context switches.

Emergence of associative learning in a neuromorphic inference network

OBJECTIVE

In the theoretical framework of predictive coding and active inference, the brain can be viewed as instantiating a rich generative model of the world that predicts incoming sensory data while continuously updating its parameters via minimization of prediction errors. While this theory has been successfully applied to cognitive processes - by modelling the activity of functional neural networks at a mesoscopic scale - the validity of the approach when modelling neurons as an ensemble of inferring agents, in a biologically plausible architecture, remained to be explored.

APPROACH

We modelled a simplified cerebellar circuit with individual neurons acting as Bayesian agents to simulate the classical delayed eyeblink conditioning protocol. Neurons and synapses adjusted their activity to minimize their prediction error, which was used as the network cost function. This cerebellar network was then implemented in hardware by replicating digital neuronal elements via a low-power microcontroller.

MAIN RESULTS

Persistent changes of synaptic strength - that mirrored neurophysiological observations - emerged via local (neurocentric) prediction error minimization, leading to the expression of associative learning. The same paradigm was effectively emulated in low-power hardware showing remarkably efficient performance compared to conventional neuromorphic architectures.

SIGNIFICANCE

These findings show that: i) an ensemble of free energy minimizing neurons - organized in a biological plausible architecture - can recapitulate functional self-organization observed in nature, such as associative plasticity, and ii) a neuromorphic network of inference units can learn unsupervised tasks without embedding predefined learning rules in the circuit, thus providing a potential avenue to a novel form of brain-inspired artificial intelligence.

I overthink—Therefore I am not: An active inference account of altered sense of self and agency in depersonalisation disorder

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This paper examines potential mechanisms behind atypical sense of self and agency in Depersonalisation Disorder (DPD).

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Using Active Inference, we argue that aberrant somatosensory attenuation and precision weighting underlies DPD.

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Failures of somatosensory attenuation may disrupt the sense of agency and control over one’s perceptions and actions.

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In DPD, individuals may believe ‘another agent’ is controlling their thoughts, perceptions or actions.

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Unlike psychosis however, in DPD the individual maintains the full insight that the ‘other agent’ is ‘me’ (the self).

This paper considers the phenomenology of depersonalisation disorder, in relation to predictive processing and its associated pathophysiology. To do this, we first establish a few mechanistic tenets of predictive processing that are necessary to talk about phenomenal transparency, mental action, and self as subject. We briefly review the important role of ‘predicting precision’ and how this affords mental action and the loss of phenomenal transparency. We then turn to sensory attenuation and the phenomenal consequences of (pathophysiological) failures to attenuate or modulate sensory precision. We then consider this failure in the context of depersonalisation disorder. The key idea here is that depersonalisation disorder reflects the remarkable capacity to explain perceptual engagement with the world via the hypothesis that “I am an embodied perceiver, but I am not in control of my perception”. We suggest that individuals with depersonalisation may believe that ‘another agent’ is controlling their thoughts, perceptions or actions, while maintaining full insight that the ‘other agent’ is ‘me’ (the self). Finally, we rehearse the predictions of this formal analysis, with a special focus on the psychophysical and physiological abnormalities that may underwrite the phenomenology of depersonalisation.

Embodied Object Representation Learning and Recognition

Scene understanding and decomposition is a crucial challenge for intelligent systems, whether it is for object manipulation, navigation, or any other task. Although current machine and deep learning approaches for object detection and classification obtain high accuracy, they typically do not leverage interaction with the world and are limited to a set of objects seen during training. Humans on the other hand learn to recognize and classify different objects by actively engaging with them on first encounter. Moreover, recent theories in neuroscience suggest that cortical columns in the neocortex play an important role in this process, by building predictive models about objects in their reference frame. In this article, we present an enactive embodied agent that implements such a generative model for object interaction. For each object category, our system instantiates a deep neural network, called Cortical Column Network (CCN), that represents the object in its own reference frame by learning a generative model that predicts the expected transform in pixel space, given an action. The model parameters are optimized through the active inference paradigm, i.e., the minimization of variational free energy. When provided with a visual observation, an ensemble of CCNs each vote on their belief of observing that specific object category, yielding a potential object classification. In case the likelihood on the selected category is too low, the object is detected as an unknown category, and the agent has the ability to instantiate a novel CCN for this category. We validate our system in an simulated environment, where it needs to learn to discern multiple objects from the YCB dataset. We show that classification accuracy improves as an embodied agent can gather more evidence, and that it is able to learn about novel, previously unseen objects. Finally, we show that an agent driven through active inference can choose their actions to reach a preferred observation.

Music in the brain

Music is ubiquitous across human cultures - as a source of affective and pleasurable experience, moving us both physically and emotionally - and learning to play music shapes both brain structure and brain function. Music processing in the brain - namely, the perception of melody, harmony and rhythm - has traditionally been studied as an auditory phenomenon using passive listening paradigms. However, when listening to music, we actively generate predictions about what is likely to happen next. This enactive aspect has led to a more comprehensive understanding of music processing involving brain structures implicated in action, emotion and learning. Here we review the cognitive neuroscience literature of music perception. We show that music perception, action, emotion and learning all rest on the human brain's fundamental capacity for prediction - as formulated by the predictive coding of music model. This Review elucidates how this formulation of music perception and expertise in individuals can be extended to account for the dynamics and underlying brain mechanisms of collective music making. This in turn has important implications for human creativity as evinced by music improvisation. These recent advances shed new light on what makes music meaningful from a neuroscientific perspective.

Therapeutic Alliance as Active Inference: The Role of Therapeutic Touch and Synchrony

Recognizing and aligning individuals' unique adaptive beliefs or "priors" through cooperative communication is critical to establishing a therapeutic relationship and alliance. Using active inference, we present an empirical integrative account of the biobehavioral mechanisms that underwrite therapeutic relationships. A significant mode of establishing cooperative alliances-and potential synchrony relationships-is through ostensive cues generated by repetitive coupling during dynamic touch. Established models speak to the unique role of affectionate touch in developing communication, interpersonal interactions, and a wide variety of therapeutic benefits for patients of all ages; both neurophysiologically and behaviorally. The purpose of this article is to argue for the importance of therapeutic touch in establishing a therapeutic alliance and, ultimately, synchrony between practitioner and patient. We briefly overview the importance and role of therapeutic alliance in prosocial and clinical interactions. We then discuss how cooperative communication and mental state alignment-in intentional communication-are accomplished using active inference. We argue that alignment through active inference facilitates synchrony and communication. The ensuing account is extended to include the role of (C-) tactile afferents in realizing the beneficial effect of therapeutic synchrony. We conclude by proposing a method for synchronizing the effects of touch using the concept of active inference.

Active inference leads to Bayesian neurophysiology

The neuronal substrates that implement the free-energy principle and ensuing active inference at the neuron and synapse level have not been fully elucidated. This Review considers possible neuronal substrates underlying the principle. First, the foundations of the free-energy principle are introduced, and then its ability to empirically explain various brain functions and psychological and biological phenomena in terms of Bayesian inference is described. Mathematically, the dynamics of neural activity and plasticity that minimise a cost function can be cast as performing Bayesian inference that minimises variational free energy. This equivalence licenses the adoption of the free-energy principle as a universal characterisation of neural networks. Further, the neural network structure itself represents a generative model under which an agent operates. A virtue of this perspective is that it enables the formal association of neural network properties with prior beliefs that regulate inference and learning. The possible neuronal substrates that implement prior beliefs and how to empirically examine the theory are discussed. This perspective renders brain activity explainable, leading to a deeper understanding of the neuronal mechanisms underlying basic psychology and psychiatric disorders in terms of an implicit generative model.

Stochastic Chaos and Markov Blankets

In this treatment of random dynamical systems, we consider the existence-and identification-of conditional independencies at nonequilibrium steady-state. These independencies underwrite a particular partition of states, in which internal states are statistically secluded from external states by blanket states. The existence of such partitions has interesting implications for the information geometry of internal states. In brief, this geometry can be read as a physics of sentience, where internal states look as if they are inferring external states. However, the existence of such partitions-and the functional form of the underlying densities-have yet to be established. Here, using the Lorenz system as the basis of stochastic chaos, we leverage the Helmholtz decomposition-and polynomial expansions-to parameterise the steady-state density in terms of surprisal or self-information. We then show how Markov blankets can be identified-using the accompanying Hessian-to characterise the coupling between internal and external states in terms of a generalised synchrony or synchronisation of chaos. We conclude by suggesting that this kind of synchronisation may provide a mathematical basis for an elemental form of (autonomous or active) sentience in biology.

An Attempt at a Unified Theory of the Neocortical Microcircuit in Sensory Cortex

The neocortex performs a wide range of functions, including working memory, sensory perception, and motor planning. Despite this diversity in function, evidence suggests that the neocortex is made up of repeating subunits ("macrocolumns"), each of which is largely identical in circuitry. As such, the specific computations performed by these macrocolumns are of great interest to neuroscientists and AI researchers. Leading theories of this microcircuit include models of predictive coding, hierarchical temporal memory (HTM), and Adaptive Resonance Theory (ART). However, these models have not yet explained: (1) how microcircuits learn sequences input with delay (i.e., working memory); (2) how networks of columns coordinate processing on precise timescales; or (3) how top-down attention modulates sensory processing. I provide a theory of the neocortical microcircuit that extends prior models in all three ways. Additionally, this theory provides a novel working memory circuit that extends prior models to support simultaneous multi-item storage without disrupting ongoing sensory processing. I then use this theory to explain the functional origin of a diverse set of experimental findings, such as cortical oscillations.