I like therefore I can, and I can therefore I like: the role of self-efficacy and affect in active inference of allostasis.

Active inference (AIF) is a theory of the behavior of information-processing open dynamic systems. It describes them as generative models (GM) generating inferences on the causes of sensory input they receive from their environment. Based on these inferences, GMs generate predictions about sensory input. The discrepancy between a prediction and the actual input results in prediction error. GMs then execute action policies predicted to minimize the prediction error. The free-energy principle provides a rationale for AIF by stipulating that information-processing open systems must constantly minimize their free energy (through suppressing the cumulative prediction error) to avoid decay. The theory of homeostasis and allostasis has a similar logic. Homeostatic set points are expectations of living organisms. Discrepancies between set points and actual states generate stress. For optimal functioning, organisms avoid stress by preserving homeostasis. Theories of AIF and homeostasis have recently converged, with AIF providing a formal account for homeo- and allostasis. In this paper, we present bacterial chemotaxis as molecular AIF, where mutual constraints by extero- and interoception play an essential role in controlling bacterial behavior supporting homeostasis. Extending this insight to the brain, we propose a conceptual model of the brain homeostatic GM, in which we suggest partition of the brain GM into cognitive and physiological homeostatic GMs. We outline their mutual regulation as well as their integration based on the free-energy principle. From this analysis, affect and self-efficacy emerge as the main regulators of the cognitive homeostatic GM. We suggest fatigue and depression as target neurocognitive phenomena for studying the neural mechanisms of such regulation.

To be or not to be: The active inference of suicide.

Suicide presents an apparent paradox as a behavior whose motivation is not obvious since its outcome is non-existence and cannot be experienced. To address this paradox, we propose to frame suicide in the integrated theory of stress and active inference. We present an active inference-based cognitive model of suicide as a type of stress response hanging in cognitive balance between predicting self-preservation and self-destruction. In it, self-efficacy emerges as a meta-cognitive regulator that can bias the model toward either survival or suicide. The model suggests conditions under which cognitive homeostasis can override physiological homeostasis in motivating self-destruction. We also present a model proto-suicidal behavior, programmed cell death (apoptosis), in active inference terms to illustrate how an active inference model of self-destruction can be embodied in molecular mechanisms and to offer a hypothesis on another puzzle of suicide: why only humans among brain-endowed animals are known to practice it.

Depression as a Failed Anxiety: The Continuum of Precision-Weighting Dysregulation in Affective Disorders.

Depressive, anxiety, and trauma-related disorders have many symptoms in common such as unstable mood, high anxiety, sleep disturbance, impaired concentration among others. This degeneracy creates ambiguity in classifying psychiatric disorders and raises the question of their categorical vs. dimensional nature. Consequently, such ambiguity presents a dilemma for choosing diagnosis-specific vs. trans-diagnostic therapies. In this paper, I build on a theory that considers affective disorders on the continuum of stress response from normative to traumatic. Using an integrative evolutionary-stress response-predictive processing (iESP) model, I arrange affective disorders on a continuum of precision-weighting dysregulation, where depressive, anxiety and trauma-induced disorders have a characteristic pattern of precision-weighting dysregulation. I specifically address the relationship between anxiety and depressive stress responses, exploring the role of anxiety in the dynamics of depressive stress response and the resulting high co-occurrence of anxiety and depression symptoms. Finally, I discuss the model's relevance for therapy of depression.

Tackling hyperarousal: an integrative multimodal approach.

Introduction: The effectiveness of treatment for PTSD is limited, which is especially true for war veterans, of whom 30-50% do not respond to therapy. Hyperarousal is central to the maintenance of trauma pathology. The mainstream trauma-focused therapies traditionally target the cognitive processing of traumatic experience. In this article, we propose that these therapies may be enhanced by the inclusion of interventions specifically targeting hyperarousal.Method: We review an earlier formulated model of trauma supporting our proposal. This model is based on a theory of trauma that integrates the concept of allostasis with the predictive processing framework. In this view, trauma is considered a maladaptive stress response guided by false inference.Results: The reviewed model is in agreement with the central role of hyperarousal in the maintenance of trauma-induced disorders. It also demonstrates the importance of targeting hyperarousal at the same time as maladaptive cognitions and behaviours associated with trauma. A treatment for PTSD is proposed that combines exposure to trauma-related cues with neurofeedback-mediated regulation of arousal.Conclusions: Our analysis argues for the integration of hyperarousal-targeting interventions into existing therapies. Accordingly, we offer methodological considerations based on the nested hierarchy principle that can guide such integration.

Trauma or Drama: A Predictive Processing Perspective on the Continuum of Stress.

The notion of psychological trauma has been liberally used both in clinical literature and general discourse. However, no consensus exists on its exact meaning and definition. Whereas traditionally trauma has been mostly associated with criterion A of acute and posttraumatic stress disorders (PTSDs) as defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, many researchers find this definition too constraining and not accounting for the complexity and many aspects of trauma. This touched off a quest for a broader more accommodating trauma concept, and a dimensional view of trauma with PTSD as its extreme manifestation has been suggested. The dimensional view also has its detractors arguing that "conceptual bracket creep" may undermine the category's utility. Both categorical and dimensional views mostly rely on trauma's clinical phenomenology and lack a unified theoretical basis. In an attempt to reconcile this contradiction, a hybrid categorical-dimensional model of trauma based on the general theory of stress has been recently proposed (Krupnik, 2019). Herein, I explore the categorical boundary of the trauma concept, as posited by the model, within the predictive processing framework (PPF). I integrate the PPF view with the theory of stress. In conclusion, I briefly discuss how the proposed model of trauma may guide clinical practice.

Bayesian Approach to Psychotherapy Integration: Strategic Modification of Priors.

Integrative psychotherapies have become the mainstay in mental health care. The most researched therapy, CBT, being integrative itself, continues to integrate such new elements as mindfulness, spirituality, and experiential techniques. There is no commonly accepted strategy for psychotherapy integration. New elements are sometimes added on a trial and error basis with a following post-hoc theoretical and empirical justification. Other times, they are incorporated based on an ad-hoc theoretical premise, and empirical studies follow to support or invalidate it. Nevertheless, four main integrative strategies have been identified as technical eclecticism, common factors integration, principle-based assimilative integration, and theoretical integration (Norcross, 2005). Strategies outside of these four have also been suggested. Recently, a principle of nested hierarchy has been proposed as a way of integrating different strategies into a general roadmap for building an integrative therapy (Krupnik, 2018). The nested hierarchy principle does not, however, offer a strategy for theoretical integration at the top of its hierarchy. In this report, I suggest using the Bayesian theory of psychopathology for such strategy. I propose to apply Bayesian framework to psychotherapy integration and discuss a possibility of using it as a universal strategy called Strategic Modification of Priors (SMOP). I illustrate SMOP's application with a synopsis of a clinical case.

Integrating EMDR into an evolutionary-based therapy for depression: a case study.

We present an intervention in a case of major depression, where eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy was integrated into an evolutionary-based psychotherapy for depression. At the end of the treatment and at follow up assessment we observed a more accepting disposition and decreased depressive but not anxiety symptoms.

Melatonin stimulates cell proliferation in zebrafish embryo and accelerates its development.

All vertebrates show a dramatic circadian rhythm in circulating melatonin with high levels at night and very low levels during daytime. In adults, melatonin is thought to synchronize other circadian rhythms and regulate seasonal rhythms in photoperiodic animals by acting on specific G-protein coupled receptors. The role of melatonin in development is unknown, even though melatonin receptors appear to be more highly expressed in developing embryos and neonates than in adults. In this study on zebrafish embryos, we describe a role for melatonin in increasing cell proliferation and accelerating development. We propose that melatonin has a role in extending the safe limit of proliferation rate at night to allow more rapid development when potentially damaging ultraviolet light is absent.