Inferential and episodic predictive processes: tracking their unfolding during visual narrative perception
Our brain not only processes incoming information from the environment, but also continuously predicts upcoming events. These predictions can be based on different representational structures in the brain: some originate from abstract models of the world (schemas), while others rely on unique autobiographical experiences. Can we differentiate these predictions based on their neurobiological underpinnings and algorithmic nature? How are these predictions encoded in natural, and thus complex, situations? How do they propagate across the cortical hierarchy? To understand how predictions and their sources are implemented in the brain, we are using naturalistic materials such as comics, as they afford precise presentation times while providing an engaging context; in conjunction with high-temporal resolution neuroimaging methods (MEG and ECoG).