Biorxiv. Your Brain Is a Prediction Machine—and It’s Usually Right

Ever felt the sunlight before you stepped outside? Or guessed someone’s next word mid-sentence? That’s not intuition—it’s your brain, hard at work simulating the future.In this episode, we dive deep into groundbreaking neuroscience research that reveals a radical idea: your brain isn’t just reacting to the world—it’s predicting it. Constantly. Across every sensory, emotional, and cognitive experience.At the heart of this discussion is predictive processing—a theory that suggests your brain builds internal models of the world based on past experiences, then tests those predictions against what actually happens. When things don’t match up? That’s a “prediction error,” and your brain adjusts. But here’s the twist: it’s not just about being right or wrong. Your brain also evaluates how much to trust its predictions—something researchers call precision signals.We unpack a stunning new study that maps how these processes unfold across three major brain structures: the cerebral cortex, the cerebellum, and the hippocampus. Using cutting-edge techniques called functional connectivity gradients, scientists discovered that these regions are far more coordinated than previously believed—sharing deeply embedded architectures that support prediction, error correction, and reliability judgments.You’ll learn:Why the cerebellum does way more than coordinate movement—it might be your brain’s “error-checking turbo engine.”How the hippocampus could be tuning your bodily and emotional state—not just storing memories.And what all of this means for understanding disorders where prediction goes haywire, like schizophrenia or anxiety.This isn't just another episode on brain science. It’s a lens into how your mind organizes reality, moment by moment.If you’ve ever wondered how you know what’s coming next—or what happens when that ability breaks down—this episode is for you.Read more: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.09.01.456844v2.full.pdf

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