Predictive Coding and Neurocomputational Psychiatry: A Mechanistic Framework for Understanding Mental Disorders
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Authors
Shaw, AD
Sumner, RL
Berndt, LCS
Supervisor
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Journal Article
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Frontiers Media SA
Abstract
Predictive coding offers a powerful computational framework for understanding brain function and psychiatric disorders at a mechanistic level. This perspective synthesizes advances in computational psychiatry, proposing that mental disorders can be conceptualized as specific alterations in the brain’s predictive inference machinery. We first outline the theoretical foundations of predictive coding, including Bayesian inference, free-energy minimization, and neural population dynamics, illustrating how these abstract computational principles map onto specific neural circuits and biophysical mechanisms. We then argue that diverse psychiatric conditions can be understood within this unified framework. Taken together, these links between theory, generative models and empirical data suggest a route by which predictive coding might be rendered a testable, modifiable, falsifiable construct within biological psychiatry. Beyond offering conceptual clarity, this framework has significant clinical implications, including the development of mechanistic biomarkers, personalized treatment approaches based on computational phenotypes, and novel therapeutic interventions targeting specific inferential abnormalities. By grounding psychiatric symptoms in aberrant predictive processes implemented in neural circuitry, this approach promises a more mechanistic understanding of mental disorders and a path toward more targeted, effective interventions.Description
Keywords
active inference, free energy, mechanistic framework, neurocomputational psychiatry, predictive coding, 32 Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, 3202 Clinical Sciences, Bioengineering, Mental Illness, Serious Mental Illness, Brain Disorders, Neurosciences, Precision Medicine, Mental Health, 1.1 Normal biological development and functioning, Mental health, 3 Good Health and Well Being, 1103 Clinical Sciences, 1117 Public Health and Health Services, 1701 Psychology, 3202 Clinical sciences
Source
Frontiers in Psychiatry, ISSN: 1664-0640 (Print); 1664-0640 (Online), Frontiers Media SA, 16, 1713833-. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1713833
Rights statement
© 2026 Shaw, Sumner and Berndt. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.