Modern neuroscience may be converging with one of Sigmund Freud’s earliest ideas, according to a new paper published in the journal Entropy. The study, led by Erik Stänicke and colleagues from the Department of Psychology, examines similarities between the predictive processing framework in neuroscience and classical psychoanalytic theory, arguing that combining the two perspectives could provide a more complete understanding of how the human mind works and how psychotherapy produces lasting change.
The authors compare predictive processing, one of today’s leading theories of brain function, with long-standing psychoanalytic concepts about perception, emotion, relationships, and mental health. Rather than viewing these approaches as competing explanations, they suggest that each addresses different aspects of the same psychological processes.
Predictive Processing and the Brain
Predictive processing has become one of the most influential theories in modern cognitive neuroscience. According to this framework, the brain continuously generates predictions about incoming sensory information and then compares those predictions with what is actually happening.
Whenever reality differs from expectations, the brain detects a “prediction error” and updates its internal model to better match the environment. This continuous cycle helps shape perception, learning, emotions, and decision-making while reducing uncertainty.
The researchers argue that psychoanalysis has described a remarkably similar process for decades, although from the perspective of subjective experience rather than brain activity. While neuroscience investigates neural networks and computational mechanisms, psychoanalysis focuses on how these processes are experienced emotionally through thoughts, fantasies, memories, and relationships.
From Projection to Predictive Models
One example highlighted in the paper is the psychoanalytic concept of projection, where individuals unconsciously attribute their own feelings, motives, or fears to other people.
The researchers suggest that projection closely resembles predictive mechanisms used by the brain during social interactions. Previous relationship experiences shape expectations about how other people are likely to behave, and these expectations influence how new situations are interpreted.
As a result, ambiguous social encounters may be understood according to existing emotional patterns rather than objective reality.
Within predictive neuroscience, this resembles the distinction between perceptual inference, where the brain updates its predictions based on new information, and active inference, where people behave in ways that make reality conform to their expectations.
The authors propose that projection may represent a psychological expression of prediction-driven processing during interpersonal relationships.
Stability, Mental Symptoms, and Homeostasis
Both predictive processing and psychoanalytic theory describe the mind as constantly seeking stability.
In predictive processing, this stability is achieved by minimizing uncertainty, even if doing so results in less accurate interpretations of reality.
Similarly, psychoanalytic theory suggests that people often unconsciously repeat familiar relationship patterns—even unhealthy ones—because familiar experiences feel psychologically safer than uncertainty.
The researchers argue that many psychiatric conditions may involve overly rigid predictive models that no longer adapt effectively to changing circumstances.
Persistent anxiety, chronic self-criticism, paranoid thinking, or other psychological symptoms may reflect deeply established expectations that continue to reduce internal uncertainty despite distorting reality.
What This Means for Psychotherapy
According to the authors, meaningful psychological change requires modifying deeply rooted predictive models about both oneself and other people.
These patterns are not stored only as conscious beliefs but also as automatic emotional and behavioral habits that shape relationships in everyday life.
Psychotherapy may work by repeatedly exposing individuals to new relational experiences that gradually challenge long-standing expectations.
Over time, consistently experiencing acceptance, understanding, or emotional safety can weaken deeply held beliefs about rejection, abandonment, or hostility.
Because these expectations become embedded in both cognition and habitual behavior, meaningful psychological change usually develops gradually rather than through rapid breakthroughs.
Bringing Neuroscience and Psychoanalysis Together
The researchers conclude that predictive processing may provide a biological and computational explanation for many concepts that psychoanalysis has explored for more than a century.
At the same time, psychoanalytic theory offers valuable insight into how prediction, uncertainty, fear, hope, shame, and trust are actually experienced in everyday human life.
Rather than replacing one another, the two approaches may complement each other by linking brain function with subjective psychological experience.
The authors propose that future research should combine brain imaging, behavioral experiments, and detailed clinical observation to better understand mental disorders and improve psychotherapeutic treatment.
If this integrated approach continues to gain support, it could help bridge the long-standing divide between neuroscience and psychoanalysis, offering a more comprehensive understanding of how the brain, emotions, and relationships interact throughout human life.
