active inference

The paper presents an alternative to reinforcement learning and optimal decision theory in which dopamine physiology is framed in terms of Bayes-optimal behaviour.

Simulated dopaminergic lesions implemented by changing the precision of prediction errors produce pathological behaviours reminiscent of Parkinson's disease.

Dopamine balances bottom-up sensory information and top-down prior beliefs during hierarchical inference about affordance-related cues.

In this account, dopamine controls the precision or salience of external or internal cues that engender action.

A single functional role for dopamine at the synaptic level can manifest in different ways at the behavioural level.