Animal affect, welfare and the Bayesian brain

• Published in: Animal welfare Vol. 33; p. e39
• Main Authors: Lecorps, Benjamin, Weary, Daniel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Cambridge University Press 2024
• Subjects: Affect (Psychology); Affective disorders; Analgesics; animal behaviour; Animal cognition; Animal welfare; Bayesian analysis; Emotional behavior; Emotions; Explicit knowledge; Hypotheses; Pain; predictive brain; Senses; suffering; animal cognition; emotions; animal welfare; predictive brain; suffering; animal behaviour

According to the Bayesian brain hypothesis, the brain can be viewed as a predictive machine, such that predictions (or expectations) affect how sensory inputs are integrated. This means that in many cases, affective responses may depend more on the subject’s perception of the experience (driven by e...