Guessing the Future and the Past: How Our Brains Handle Predictions

Our brains are always trying to guess what will happen next. This is called forward prediction. It helps us learn and understand the world around us. We use past and current experiences to make these guesses. When what we expect doesn't match what actually happens, we adjust our predictions. This helps us learn and perceive things accurately. But here's something interesting: our brains are also good at backward prediction. This is when we figure out what likely happened before based on what's happening now. Research shows we learn backward predictions just as well as forward ones. This makes us question if forward predictions are really that special. So, what's the difference between forward and backward predictions? Both types help us learn. But when it comes to perception, we only recall future predictions, not past ones. This means our brains might prioritize future predictions when it comes to understanding the world. This raises some questions. Why do our brains focus on future predictions for perception? Could it be because planning for the future is more important for survival? Or maybe it's just easier for our brains to handle. Whatever the reason, it's clear that both forward and backward predictions play important roles in how we learn and perceive the world.