Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-sxzjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T13:50:32.968Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Theories of anterior cingulate cortex function: Opportunity cost

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 December 2013

Clay B. Holroyd*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, V8W 3P5, Canada. holroyd@uvic.cahttp://web.uvic.ca/~lccl/

Abstract

The target article highlights the role of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in conflict monitoring, but ACC function may be better understood in terms of the hierarchical organization of behavior. This proposal suggests that the ACC selects extended goal-directed actions according to their learned costs and benefits and executes those behaviors subject to depleting resources.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ackerman, P. L. (2011) 100 years without resting. In: Cognitive fatigue: Multidisciplinary perspectives on current research and future applications, ed. Ackerman, P. L., pp. 1143. American Psychological Association.Google Scholar
Baumeister, R. F., Bratslavsky, E., Muraven, M. & Tice, D. M. (1998) Ego depletion: Is the active self a limited resource? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 74(5):1252–65. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.74.5.1252.Google Scholar
Boksem, M. A. S. & Tops, M. (2008) Mental fatigue: Costs and benefits. Brain Research Reviews 59(1):125–39. doi:10.1016/j.brainresrev.2008.07.001.Google Scholar
Botvinick, M. M. (2012) Hierarchical reinforcement learning and decision making. Current Opinion in Neurobiology 22:956–62. doi:10.1016/j.conb.2012.05.008.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Botvinick, M. M., Cohen, J. D. & Carter, C. S. (2004) Conflict monitoring and anterior cingulate cortex: An update. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 8:539–46. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2004.10.003.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brockner, J., Shaw, M. C. & Rubin, J. Z. (1979) Factors affecting withdrawal from an escalating conflict: Quitting before it's too late. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 15:492503. doi:10.1016/0022-1031(79)90011-8.Google Scholar
Dosenbach, N. U. F., Fair, D. A., Miezin, F. M., Cohen, A. L., Wenger, K. K., Dosenbach, R. A. T., Fox, M. D., Snyder, A. Z., Vincent, J. L., Raichle, M. E., Schlaggar, B. L. & Petersen, S. E. (2007) Distinct brain networks for adaptive and stable task control in humans. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 104:11073–78. doi:10.1073/pnas.0704320104.Google Scholar
Erickson, K. I., Milham, M. P., Colcombe, S. J., Kramer, A. F., Banich, M. T., Webb, A. & Cohen, N. J. (2004) Behavioral conflict, anterior cingulate cortex, and experiment duration: Implications of diverging data. Human Brain Mapping 21:98107. doi:10.1002/hbm.10158.Google Scholar
Hagger, M. S., Wood, C., Stiff, C. & Chatzisarantis, N. L. D. (2010a) Ego depletion and the strength model of self-control: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin 136(4):495525. doi:10.1037/a0019486.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hayden, B. Y., Pearson, J. M. & Platt, M. L. (2011) Neuronal basis of sequential foraging decisions in a patchy environment. Nature Neuroscience 14:933–41. doi:10.1038/nn.2856.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heatherton, T. F. & Wagner, D. D. (2011) Cognitive neuroscience of self-regulation failure. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 15:132–39. doi:10.1016.j.tics.2010.12.005.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hockey, G. R. J. (2011) A motivational control theory of cognitive fatigue. In: Cognitive fatigue: Multidisciplinary perspectives on current research and future applications, ed. Ackerman, P. L., pp. 167–87. American Psychological Association.Google Scholar
Hofmann, W., Friese, M. & Strack, F. (2009) Impulse and self-control from a dual-systems perspective. Perspectives on Psychological Science 4:162–76. doi:10.1111/j.1745-6924.2009.01116.x.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Holroyd, C. B. & Coles, M. G. H. (2002) The neural basis of human error processing: Reinforcement learning, dopamine, and the error-related negativity. Psychological Review 109:679709. doi:10.1037//0033-295X.109.4.679.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Holroyd, C. B. & Yeung, N. (2012) Motivation of extended behaviors by anterior cingulate cortex. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 16:122–28. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2011.12.008.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hyafil, A., Summerfield, C. & Koechlin, E. (2009) Two mechanisms for task switching in the prefrontal cortex. The Journal of Neuroscience 29:5135–42. doi:10.1523/jneurosci.2828-08.2009.Google Scholar
Johnston, K., Levin, H. M., Koval, M. J. & Everling, S. (2007) Top-down control-signal dynamics in anterior cingulate and prefrontal cortex neurons following task switching. Neuron 53:453–62. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2006.12.023.Google Scholar
Kool, W., McGuire, J. T., Rosen, Z. B. & Botvinick, M. M. (2010) Decision making and the avoidance of cognitive demand. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 139(4):665–82. doi:10.1037/a0020198.Google Scholar
Kouneiher, F., Charron, S. & Koechlin, E. (2009) Motivation and cognitive control in the human prefrontal cortex. Nature Neuroscience 12:939–47. doi:10.1038/nn.2321.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mansouri, F. A., Tanaka, K. & Buckley, M. J. (2009) Conflict-induced behavioural adjustment: A clue to the executive functions of the prefrontal cortex. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 10:141–52. doi:10.1038/nrn2538.Google Scholar
Muraven, M., Shmueli, D. & Burkley, E. (2006) Conserving self-control strength. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 91(3):524–37. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.91.3.524.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Muraven, M. & Slessareva, E. (2003) Mechanisms of self-control failure: Motivation and limited resources. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 29(7):894906. doi:10.1177/0146167203029007008.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nachev, P. (2011) The blind executive. NeuroImage 57:312–13. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.04.025.Google Scholar
Picton, T. W., Stuss, D. T., Alexander, M. P., Shallice, T., Binns, M. A. & Gillingham, S. (2007) Effects of focal frontal lesions on response inhibition. Cerebral Cortex 17:826–38. doi:10.1093/cercor/bhk031.Google Scholar
Rainer, G. (2007) Behavioral flexibility and the frontal lobe. Neuron 53:321–23. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2007.01.015.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roelofs, A., van Turennout, M. & Coles, M. G. H. (2006) Anterior cingulate cortex activity can be independent of response conflict in Stroop-like tasks. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 103:13884–89. doi:10.1073/pnas.0606265103.Google Scholar
Savtchenko, L. P., Sylantyev, S. & Rusakov, D. A. (2013) Central synapses release a resource-efficient amount of glutamate. Nature Neuroscience 16:1014. doi:10.1038/nn.3285.Google Scholar
Schimmack, U. (2012) The ironic effect of significant results on the credibility of multiple-study articles. Psychological Methods 17(4):551–66. doi: 10.1037/a0029487.Google Scholar
Silvetti, M. & Verguts, T. (2012) Reinforcement learning, high-level cognition, and the human brain. In: Neuroimaging – Cognitive and clinical neuroscience, ed. Bright, P., pp. 283–96. Retrieved from: http://www.intechopen.com/books/neuroimaging-cognitive-and-clinicalneuroscience/reinforcement-learning-high-level-cognition-and-the-human-brain.Google Scholar
van der Linden, D., Frese, M. & Meijman, T. F. (2003) Mental fatigue and the control of cognitive processes: Effects on perseveration and planning. Acta Psychologica 113(1):4565. doi:10.1016/S0001-6918(02)00150-6.Google Scholar
Yeung, N. (2013) Conflict monitoring and cognitive control. In: Oxford handbook of cognitive neuroscience, Volume 2, ed. Ochsner, K. & Kosslyn, S.. pp. 275–99. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Yeung, N. & Monsell, S. (2003) Switching between tasks of unequal familiarity: The role of stimulus-attribute and response-set selection. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 29:455–69. doi:10.1037/0096-1523.29.2.455.Google Scholar
Youngquist, W. (1997) Geodestinies – The inevitable control of Earth resources over nations and individuals. National Book Company.Google Scholar