Figure 1.

Markov blankets and active inference. This schematic illustrates the partition of states into internal states and hidden or external states that are separated by a Markov blanket—comprising sensory and active states. The internal states can be associated with the intracellular states of a cell, while sensory states become the surface states of the cell membrane overlying active states (e.g. the actin filaments of the cytoskeleton). The ensuing self-organization of internal states then corresponds to perception, while action couples internal states back to external states. See table 1 for a definition of variables. (Online version in colour.)