Linguistic Manifestations of Predictive Coding Error Responses inPsychotic Disorders: An Integrative Review with Neurophysiological Evidence
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12923/2353-8627/2025-0022Keywords:
predictive coding, prediction error, language; neurophysiology, psychiatryAbstract
Introduction: Disturbances in predictive coding are increasingly recognized as core mechanisms shaping perception, cognition, and language in mental disorders. However, the linguistic manifestations of prediction error responses have not been systematically integrated with neurophysiological findings. This review aims to synthesize how different forms of predictive error reactivity are expressed in language and how these patterns correspond to neural signatures.
Material and methods: A scoping review was conducted following PRISMAScR guidelines, covering empirical and theoretical studies from PubMed and Scopus from 2010 up to 2026. Studies were included if they examined (1) a psychiatric population, (2) predictive coding or predictionerror mechanisms, (3) linguistic behavior at any structural level, and (4) behavioral and/or neurophysiological data. Extracted information underwent thematic synthesis using open, axial, and selective coding.
Results: Thirteen publications met the inclusion criteria. Six recurring mechanisms of predictive error responses were identified: heightened prediction error precision, weakened prediction error signalling, impaired sensory-motor prediction, disruptions in hierarchical semantic-pragmatic prediction, deficits in predictive source monitoring, and global predictive instability. Each mechanism was associated with specific linguistic manifestations such as semantic entropy, discourse incoherence, and atypical lexical activation. Concurrently, corresponding neurophysiological indices were observed, including reduced N1/N400 modulation, converging with electrophysiological and neurodynamic evidence.
Conclusions: Language provides a sensitive behavioural window into predictive processing disturbances in mental disorders. The correspondence between linguistic patterns and neurophysiological responses highlights the value of integrative, multilevel approaches for characterizing predictive coding dysfunction in clinical populations. These results suggest that predictive processing deficits occur hierarchically across language levels, producing cascading effects paralleling the clinical course of psychotic illness.
References
1. Euler MJ. Intelligence and uncertainty: Implications of hierarchical predictive processing for the neuroscience of cognitive ability. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2018;94:93–112. doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.08.013
2. Rao RP, Ballard DH. Predictive coding in the visual cortex: a functional interpretation of some extra-classical receptive-field effects. Nat Neurosci. 1999;2(1):79–87. doi:10.1038/4580
3. Friston K, Kiebel S. Predictive coding under the freeenergy principle. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2009;364(1521):1211–21. doi:10.1098/rstb.2008.0300
4. Clark A. Whatever next? Predictive brains, situated agents, and the future of cognitive science. Behav Brain Sci. 2013;36(3):181– 204. doi:10.1017/S0140525X12000477
5. Hohwy J. New directions in predictive processing. Mind & Language. kwietnia 2020;35(2):209–23. doi:10.1111/ mila.12281
6. Rao RP, Ballard DH. Predictive coding in the visual cortex: a functional interpretation of some extra-classical receptive-field effects. Nat Neurosci. 1999;2(1):79–87. doi:10.1038/4580
7. Friston K. The free-energy principle: a unified brain theory? Nat Rev Neurosci. 2010;11(2):127–38. doi:10.1038/nrn2787
8. Stefanics G, Kremláček J, Czigler I. Visual mismatch negativity: a predictive coding view. Front Hum Neurosci. 16 2014;8:666. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2014.00666
9. Fong CY, Law WHC, Uka T, Koike S. Auditory Mismatch Negativity Under Predictive Coding Framework and Its Role in Psychotic Disorders. Front Psychiatry. 2020;11:557932. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2020.557932
10. Qela B, Damiani S, De Santis S, Groppi F, Pichiecchio A, Asteggiano C, et al. Predictive coding in neuropsychiatric disorders: A systematic transdiagnostic review. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2025;169:106020. doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2025.106020
11. Friston K. The free-energy principle: a unified brain theory? Nat Rev Neurosci. 2010;11(2):127–38. doi:10.1038/nrn2787
12. Clark A. Surfing Uncertainty: Prediction, Action, and the Embodied Mind. Oxford University Press; 2015.
13. Aitchison L, Lengyel M. With or without you: predictive coding and Bayesian inference in the brain. Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2017;46:219–27. doi:10.1016/j.conb.2017.08.010
14. Schutter DJLG. The Cerebellum and Disorders of Emotion. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2022;1378:273–83. doi:10.1007/978-3-030- 99550-8_17
15. Qela B, Damiani S, De Santis S, Groppi F, Pichiecchio A, Asteggiano C, et al. Predictive coding in neuropsychiatric disorders: A systematic transdiagnostic review. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews. 1 2025;169:106020. doi:10.1016/j. neubiorev.2025.106020
16. Alotaibi AS. Predictive coding in psychopathology: mechanistic model or metaphorical re-description? Front Hum Neurosci. 2025;19:1743028. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2025.1743028
17. Shaw AD, Sumner RL, Berndt LCS. Predictive coding and neurocomputational psychiatry: a mechanistic framework for understanding mental disorders. Front Psychiatry. 2025;16:1713833. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1713833
18. Corlett PR, Mohanty A, MacDonald AW. What we think about when we think about predictive processing. J Abnorm Psychol. 2020;129(6):529–33. doi:10.1037/abn0000632
19. Gastaldon S, Bonfiglio N, Vespignani F, Peressotti F. Predictive language processing: integrating comprehension and production, and what atypical populations can tell us. Front Psychol. 2024;15:1369177. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1369177
20. Matar S, Marantz A. Neural Bases of Proactive and Predictive Processing of Meaningful Subword Units in Speech Comprehension. J Neurosci. 2025;45(7):e0781242024. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0781-24.2024
21. Szelag E, Kowalska J, Galkowski T, Pöppel E. Temporal processing deficits in high-functioning children with autism. Br J Psychol. 2004;95(Pt 3):269–82. doi:10.1348/0007126041528167
22. Panasiuk J. Sprawności komunikacyjne w postępowaniu logopedycznym. Od Aspergera do Williamsa. Logopedia. 2019;48(2):57–78. doi:10.24335/EAKG-FP34
23. Gwilliams L, Marantz A, Poeppel D, King JR. Hierarchical dynamic coding coordinates speech comprehension in the human brain. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2025;122(42):e2422097122. doi:10.1073/pnas.2422097122
24. Covington MA, He C, Brown C, Naçi L, McClain JT, Fjordbak BS, et al. Schizophrenia and the structure of language: the linguist’s view. Schizophr Res. 2005;77(1):85–98. doi:10.1016/j. schres.2005.01.016
25. Czernikiewicz A, Woźniak T, Błaszczak A, Izdebska M, Łysoń E, Ornat M, et al. Diagnosis and Construction of Speech Coherence Disordersin Schizophasia. Current Problems of Psychiatry. 2019;20(3):187–97. doi:10.2478/cpp-2019-0012
26. Woźniak T. The delusional type of schizophasia: An analysis of schizophatic texts. Logopaedica Lodziensia. 2023;(7):229–42. doi:10.18778/2544-7238.07.16
27. Bettis RJ, Faith LA, Beard AM, Whan BA, Hegwood CM, Monette MA, et al. Narrative Forewarnings: A Qualitative Analysis of the Themes Preceding Disorganized Speech in Schizophrenia. Behav Sci (Basel). 2024;14(3):212. doi:10.3390/bs14030212
28. Lipski W. Zaburzenia konotacji w schizofrenii. UMCS; 2018.
29. Ryskin R, Nieuwland MS. Prediction during language comprehension: what is next? Trends Cogn Sci. 2023;27(11):1032–52. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2023.08.003
30. Chege S. Neurolinguistic Evidence for Predictive Coding in Language Comprehension. International Journal of Linguistics. 2025;6(1):53–69. doi:10.47604/ijl.3291
31. Strauss A, Corbin J. Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory, 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA, US: Sage Publications, Inc; 1998. xiii, 312 s. (Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory, 2nd ed).
32. Todorova GK, Pollick FE, Muckli L. Special treatment of prediction errors in autism spectrum disorder. Neuropsychologia. 2021;163:108070. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2021.108070
33. Tarasi L, Trajkovic J, Diciotti S, di Pellegrino G, Ferri F, Ursino M, et al. Predictive waves in the autism-schizophrenia continuum: A novel biobehavioral model. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2022;132:1–22. doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.11.006
34. Matsumoto Y, Hayashi R, Takahashi H. Understanding semantic impairments in schizophrenia from a predictive coding perspective. Neurosci Res. 2026;222:104990. doi:10.1016/j. neures.2025.104990
35. Knolle F, Sterner EF, Demler VF, MacGregor LJ, Mathys C. Guided by Expectations: Overweighted Semantic Priors in Schizotypy and Their Links to Glutamate. Biol Psychiatry. 2025;S0006- 3223(25)01299-5. doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2025.06.025
36. Andreasen NC. Scale for the assessment of thought, language, and communication (TLC). Schizophr Bull. 1986;12(3):473–82. doi:10.1093/schbul/12.3.473
37. Nazimek JM, Hunter MD, Woodruff PWR. Auditory hallucinations: expectation-perception model. Med Hypotheses. 2012;78(6):802–10. doi:10.1016/j.mehy.2012.03.014
38. Jeganathan J, Breakspear M. An active inference perspective on the negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Lancet Psychiatry. 2021;8(8):732–8. doi:10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30527-7
39. Palaniyappan L. Dissecting the neurobiology of linguistic disorganisation and impoverishment in schizophrenia. Semin Cell Dev Biol. 2022;129:47–60. doi:10.1016/j. semcdb.2021.08.015
40. Li L, Li C. Schizophrenia Research Under the Framework of Predictive Coding: Body, Language, and Others. Wiley Interdiscip Rev Cogn Sci. 2025;16(5):e70013. doi:10.1002/ wcs.70013
41. Bassett DS, Bullmore ET. Small-World Brain Networks Revisited. Neuroscientist. 2017;23(5):499–516. doi:10.1177/1073858416667720
42. Ford JM, Mathalon DH. Corollary discharge dysfunction in schizophrenia: can it explain auditory hallucinations? Int J Psychophysiol. 2005;58(2–3):179–89. doi:10.1016/j. ijpsycho.2005.01.014
43. Mathalon DH, Roach BJ, Ferri JM, Loewy RL, Stuart BK, Perez VB, et al. Deficient auditory predictive coding during vocalization in the psychosis risk syndrome and in early illness schizophrenia: the final expanded sample. Psychol Med. 2019;49(11):1897–904. doi:10.1017/S0033291718002659
44. Kort NS, Ford JM, Roach BJ, Gunduz-Bruce H, Krystal JH, Jaeger J, et al. Role of N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptors in Action-Based Predictive Coding Deficits in Schizophrenia. Biol Psychiatry. 2017;81(6):514–24. doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2016.06.019
45. Ford JM, Gray M, Faustman WO, Roach BJ, Mathalon DH. Dissecting corollary discharge dysfunction in schizophrenia. Psychophysiology. 2007;44(4):522–9. doi:10.1111/j.1469- 8986.2007.00533.x
46. Subramaniam K. The Role of the Medial Prefontal Cortex in Self- Agency in Schizophrenia. J Psychiatr Brain Sci. 2021;6:e210017. doi:10.20900/jpbs.20210017
47. Thakkar KN, Mathalon DH, Ford JM. Reconciling competing mechanisms posited to underlie auditory verbal hallucinations. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2021;376(1817):20190702. doi:10.1098/rstb.2019.0702
48. Salomon R, Progin P, Griffa A, Rognini G, Do KQ, Conus P, et al. Sensorimotor Induction of Auditory Misattribution in Early Psychosis. Schizophr Bull. 2020;46(4):947–54. doi:10.1093/ schbul/sbz136
49. Kafadar E, Mittal VA, Strauss GP, Chapman HC, Ellman LM, Bansal S, et al. Modeling perception and behavior in individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis: Support for the predictive processing framework. Schizophr Res. 2020;226:167–75. doi:10.1016/j.schres.2020.04.017
50. Sharpe V, Weber K, Kuperberg GR. Impairments in Probabilistic Prediction and Bayesian Learning Can Explain Reduced Neural Semantic Priming in Schizophrenia. Schizophr Bull. 1 grudnia 2020;46(6):1558–66. doi:10.1093/schbul/sbaa069
51. Brown M, Kuperberg GR. A Hierarchical Generative Framework of Language Processing: Linking Language Perception, Interpretation, and Production Abnormalities in Schizophrenia. Front Hum Neurosci. 2015;9:643. doi:10.3389/ fnhum.2015.00643
52. Teghipco A, Okada K, Murphy E, Hickok G. Predictive Coding and Internal Error Correction in Speech Production. Neurobiol Lang (Camb). 2023;4(1):81–119. doi:10.1162/nol_a_00088
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Michał Mazur, Paweł Krukow (Autor)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
