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Cited by 81Posttraumatic Stress Disorder ResearchEmbodied and Extended CognitionPsychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research

Reframing PTSD for computational psychiatry with the active inference framework

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Linson, Adam, Friston, Karl·2019·Cognitive Neuropsychiatry
DOI 10.1080/13546805.2019.1665994PMC PMC6816477
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Abstract

Introduction: Recent advances in research on stress and, respectively, on disorders of perception, learning, and behaviour speak to a promising synthesis of current insights from (i) neurobiology, cognitive neuroscience and psychology of stress and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and (ii) computational psychiatry approaches to pathophysiology (e.g. of schizophrenia and autism).Methods: Specifically, we apply this synthesis to PTSD. The framework of active inference offers an embodied and embedded lens through which to understand neuronal mechanisms, structures, and processes of cognitive function and dysfunction. In turn, this offers an explanatory model of how healthy mental functioning can go awry due to psychopathological conditions that impair inference about our environment and our bodies. In this context, auditory phenomena—known to be especially relevant to studies of PTSD and schizophrenia—and traditional models of auditory function can be viewed from an evolutionary perspective based on active inference.Results: We assess and contextualise a range of evidence on audition, stress, psychosis, and PTSD, and bring some existing partial models of PTSD into multilevel alignment.Conclusions: The novel perspective on PTSD we present aims to serve as a basis for new experimental designs and therapeutic interventions that integrate fundamentally biological, cognitive, behavioural, and environmental factors.

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Cited by

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Authors
Linson, A., & Friston, K.
Affiliations
  • University of Stirling (GB)
  • Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging (GB)
Corresponding author
Linson, Adam
ORCID
Venue
Cognitive Neuropsychiatry
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Published
2019-09-03
Volume
24
Issue
5
Pages
347-368
ISSN
  • 1354-6805 (ISSN-L)
  • 1464-0619
DOI
10.1080/13546805.2019.1665994
PMC
PMC6816477
OpenAlex
W2978638612
Cited by
81
References
28
Citations by year
2026: 12 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 24 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 1
FWCI
7.59
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Cognitive Neuropsychiatry (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Open Research Online (The Open University) (acceptedVersion)
  • Stirling Online Research Repository (University of Stirling) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
Funders
Wellcome Trust (088130/Z/09/Z)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Embodied and Extended Cognition
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research
Keywords
post-traumatic stress disorder, active inference, computational psychiatry, stress, auditory perception, psychosis, schizophrenia, embodied cognition, evolutionary perspective, auditory function
MeSH terms
Auditory Perception, Humans, Models, Biological, Psychiatry, Psychotic Disorders, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic

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