Predictive coding offers a potentially unifying account of cortical function
-- postulating that the core function of the brain is to minimize prediction
errors with respect to a generative model of the world. The theory is closely
related to the Bayesian brain framework and, over the last two decades, has
gained substantial influence in the fields of theoretical and cognitive
neuroscience. A large body of research has arisen based on both empirically
testing improved and extended theoretical and mathematical models of predictive
coding, as well as in evaluating their potential biological plausibility for
implementation in the brain and the concrete neurophysiological and
psychological predictions made by the theory. Despite this enduring popularity,
however, no comprehensive review of predictive coding theory, and especially of
recent developments in this field, exists. Here, we provide a comprehensive
review both of the core mathematical structure and logic of predictive coding,
thus complementing recent tutorials in the literature. We also review a wide
range of classic and recent work within the framework, ranging from the
neurobiologically realistic microcircuits that could implement predictive
coding, to the close relationship between predictive coding and the widely-used
backpropagation of error algorithm, as well as surveying the close
relationships between predictive coding and modern machine learning techniques.

该论文提供了对预测编码理论的全面评估，包括其核心数学结构和逻辑以及在神经科学领域的实现和应用。该理论适用于皮层功能的统一解释，主张大脑的核心功能是通过一个世界的生成模型来减少与预测误差。