Schedule of Events | Symposia

The intention to predict upcoming events modulates prediction error but not visual processing

Poster Session F - Tuesday, April 1, 2025, 8:00 – 10:00 am EDT, Back Bay Ballroom/Republic Ballroom

Chen Frenkel¹ (chen.gueta1@mail.huji.ac.il), Leon Deouell¹; ¹the Hebrew University

Predictive processing theory proposes that the brain generates predictions and processes mainly prediction errors - the difference between the predicted and actual sensory input. This is assumed to be an obligatory perceptual process, but it remains unclear if and how it is modulated by the intention to make predictions. To investigate this question, we examined neural dynamics during mostly passive viewing tasks. Over two sessions, participants (N=30) viewed stimuli varying in category and color while undergoing EEG recording. Response was unexpectedly required in a minority of trials, which were excluded from the electrophysiology analysis. In each session, color or category was sequentially predictable and the other was presented randomly. We manipulated intentions to predict by instructing participants to either explicitly predict upcoming stimuli, judge current stimuli, or maintain previous stimuli in memory (discouraging prediction). Behaviorally, participants were highly accurate on all tasks. Event-related potentials revealed sensitivity to sequence deviations, which varied significantly between the three tasks. Using machine learning we decoded which task was performed and found persistent task representations during passive viewing, intensifying around stimulus onset. Stimuli’s color and category were significantly decodable during early perceptual processing, but decoding accuracy was not modulated by task, predictability or the attention. This study reveals that the intention to predict is represented in the brain and modulates the neural mechanisms underlying the generation of prediction errors. However, visual representations were highly generalizable between tasks and unmodulated by the intent to predict, suggesting that visual representations and prediction error responses might be dissociated.

Topic Area: PERCEPTION & ACTION: Vision