Thinking through prior bodies: autonomic uncertainty and interoceptive self-inference

📄 Publisher’s version

Authors

Micah G. Allen, Nicolas Legrand, Camile Maria Costa Correa, Francesca Fardo

Abstract

The Bayesian brain hypothesis, as formalized by the free-energy principle, is ascendant in cognitive science. But, how does the Bayesian brain obtain prior beliefs? Veissière and colleagues argue that sociocultural interaction is one important source. We offer a complementary model in which “interoceptive self-inference” guides the estimation of expected uncertainty both in ourselves and in our social conspecifics.