Applying predictive coding to physiological processes

Seth & Friston, 2016 frame the balance between homeostatic reflexes and goal-directed allostatic behavior in terms of predictive coding, specifically the precision (confidence) placed on deeper expectations about how the body will behave. When interoceptive prediction errors are weighted with high precision, low-level predictions trigger autonomic reflexes that resolve the error internally, such as mobilizing glucose stores in response to hypoglycemia, without requiring any behavior. When the precision of that interoceptive signal is instead attenuated, higher-level proprioceptive predictions can dominate and be fulfilled through actual motor action, engaging allostatic behavior such as preparing and eating a meal rather than relying on a domain-specific homeostatic response. Seth & Friston, 2016