Researchers at the University of Oslo argue in a paper published in the journal Entropy that the modern “predictive processing” view of the brain as a prediction-generating system resembles psychoanalytic ideas associated with Sigmund Freud.
A paper by researchers at the University of Oslo draws parallels between psychoanalysis and a major contemporary framework in cognitive neuroscience known as predictive processing, which describes the brain as continuously generating expectations and updating them against incoming sensory information.
The article—published in Entropy—was authored by Erik Stänicke, Bendik Sparre Hovet and Line Indrevoll Stänicke, according to the University of Oslo’s summary of the work.
In that summary, Stänicke is quoted as saying that psychoanalysis has, for more than 130 years, developed theories about how predictions operate at a subjective level, while cognitive neuropsychology is now studying similar processes at a physiological level.
The researchers argue that the two traditions address overlapping questions from different vantage points: neuroscience emphasizes biological and computational mechanisms, while psychoanalysis focuses on lived experience and relational dynamics. As an example, they link the psychoanalytic concept of projection to the way predictive models can shape how people interpret others.
The paper also highlights what it describes as a shared emphasis on stability and predictability—often discussed as homeostasis or the reduction of uncertainty—and suggests that persistent, inflexible expectations may help explain why some psychological symptoms can be difficult to change.
The authors conclude that integrating the two perspectives could support a more holistic psychology that accounts for both brain mechanisms and subjective experience.
