Smith, R;
Parr, T;
Friston, KJ;
(2019)
Simulating Emotions: An Active Inference Model of Emotional State Inference and Emotion Concept Learning.
Frontiers in Psychology
, 10
, Article 2844. 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02844.
Preview |
Text
fpsyg-10-02844.pdf - Published Version Download (10MB) | Preview |
Abstract
The ability to conceptualize and understand one’s own affective states and responses – or “Emotional awareness” (EA) – is reduced in multiple psychiatric populations; it is also positively correlated with a range of adaptive cognitive and emotional traits. While a growing body of work has investigated the neurocognitive basis of EA, the neurocomputational processes underlying this ability have received limited attention. Here, we present a formal Active Inference (AI) model of emotion conceptualization that can simulate the neurocomputational (Bayesian) processes associated with learning about emotion concepts and inferring the emotions one is feeling in a given moment. We validate the model and inherent constructs by showing (i) it can successfully acquire a repertoire of emotion concepts in its “childhood”, as well as (ii) acquire new emotion concepts in synthetic “adulthood,” and (iii) that these learning processes depend on early experiences, environmental stability, and habitual patterns of selective attention. These results offer a proof of principle that cognitive-emotional processes can be modeled formally, and highlight the potential for both theoretical and empirical extensions of this line of research on emotion and emotional disorders.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Simulating Emotions: An Active Inference Model of Emotional State Inference and Emotion Concept Learning |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02844 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02844 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| Keywords: | Social Sciences, Psychology, Multidisciplinary, Psychology, emotion concepts, trait emotional awareness, learning, computational neuroscience, active inference, TORONTO-ALEXITHYMIA-SCALE, MEDIAL PREFRONTAL CORTEX, EXPRESSION THERAPY, GENDER-DIFFERENCES, ANXIETY DISORDER, SILENT SYNAPSES, PREMOTOR THEORY, NEURAL BASIS, AWARENESS, EXPERIENCE |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology > Imaging Neuroscience |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10090321 |
Archive Staff Only
 |
View Item |
