# Perceptual Attractor Seeding **Entity class:** Proposed control principle **Domain:** Brain-Computer Interfaces / Predictive Processing / Neural Stimulation **Doc Type:** Canonical Concept Node **Maturity:** Plausible integration principle **Primary source:** [[articles/The Closed-Loop Gaussian Sensorium Engine|The Closed-Loop Gaussian Sensorium Engine]] **Collection:** [[collections/Neurotech|Neurotech]] --- ## Definition **Perceptual attractor seeding** is the proposed practice of delivering a sparse, calibrated pattern of neural stimulation intended to move a subject's perceptual system toward a target state while relying on the nervous system's own completion dynamics to supply much of the resulting experience. The principle differs from a pixel-display model. It treats each intervention as partial evidence inside a biological generative system. The machine proposes a cue; the subject's nervous system contributes learned priors, recurrent dynamics, uncertainty weighting, and completion. ## Control loop 1. Estimate the subject's current state in a [[wiki/Gaussian Perceptual Field|Gaussian Perceptual Field]]. 2. Forecast candidate responses to possible stimulation patterns. 3. Select a minimal intervention under safety, uncertainty, and consent constraints. 4. Deliver the intervention through a calibrated write channel. 5. Measure the neural and reported perceptual response. 6. Update the model and choose whether to continue, revise, or stop. ## Relationships - **Proposed by:** [[articles/The Closed-Loop Gaussian Sensorium Engine|The Closed-Loop Gaussian Sensorium Engine]]. - **Control context:** [[wiki/Closed-Loop Gaussian Sensorium Engine|Closed-Loop Gaussian Sensorium Engine]], [[wiki/Closed-Loop BCI|Closed-Loop BCI]], and [[wiki/Active Inference|Active Inference]]. - **Write-path anchors:** [[wiki/Utah Array|Utah Array]], [[wiki/Intracortical Visual Prosthesis Project|Intracortical Visual Prosthesis Project]], [[wiki/Optogenetics and Chemogenetics|Optogenetics and Chemogenetics]], and [[wiki/Functional Ultrasound|Functional Ultrasound]]. - **Cognitive frame:** [[wiki/Predictive Processing|Predictive Processing]]. - **Rights boundary:** [[wiki/Perceptual Sovereignty|Perceptual Sovereignty]] and [[wiki/Cognitive Liberty|Cognitive Liberty]]. ## Evidence boundary Patterned stimulation, perceptual completion, adaptive BCI control, and differentiable phosphene optimization are documented separately. The claim that their integration can reliably seed complex human perceptual attractors remains plausible and testable, not established. A reported or decoded percept must remain distinct from the model's predicted state. ## Sources and provenance - [[articles/The Closed-Loop Gaussian Sensorium Engine|The Closed-Loop Gaussian Sensorium Engine]] — source of the term and integration thesis. - [van der Grinten et al., differentiable phosphene simulation (eLife, 2024)](https://elifesciences.org/articles/85812). - [Friston et al., “Active Inference: A Process Theory” (Neural Computation, 2017)](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27870614/).