Active inference and psychodynamics: a novel integration with applications to depression and stress disorders
Frontiers in Psychiatry August 19, 2025 Hebert W. Harris
The self emerges from recursive inferences about how others perceive us, interacting bidirectionally with bodily (interoceptive) processes, according to a new framework called Active Intersubjective Inference (AISI). The framework maps psychodynamic phenomena such as transference and projection onto neurocomputational mechanisms and applies this model to Major Depressive Disorder and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, highlighting distorted second-order inference as a core dysfunction. Therapeutic implications include psychodynamic therapy, cognitive-behavioral approaches, and psychedelic-assisted treatments to enhance inference flexibility. AISI bridges psychodynamic insights with the NIMH Research Domain Criteria, offering a testable model for precision psychiatry and future clinical trials.