284 | Doris Tsao on How the Brain Turns Vision Into the World
Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas
Reality is a Construct of Feedback Loops
Information flow in the brain is bi-directional, highlighting the intricate network of feedback and feedforward connections. This complexity illustrates that perception is not a simple detection process; rather, it involves layers of influence where higher-order brain areas provide context and expectation to earlier processing areas. For instance, when visual information about shapes enters the primary visual cortex (V1), it does not merely identify light and dark patterns but is continuously modified by other brain regions. Through mechanisms like predictive coding, the brain actively participates in the interpretation of sensory input, enhancing its understanding of stimuli by adjusting perceptions based on prior experiences and expectations.
