Conflict monitoring and decision making: Reconciling two perspectives on anterior cingulate function

According to one influential account, the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) serves to monitor for conflicts in information processing. According to another influential account, the ACC monitors action outcomes and guides decision making. Both of these perspectives are supported by an abundance of data, making it untenable to reject one view in favor of the other. Instead, the apparent challenge is to discover how the two perspectives might fit together within a larger account. In the present article, we consider the prospects for such a reconciliation. Juxtaposing the conflict-monitoring and decision-making accounts suggests an extension of the conflict-monitoring theory, by which conflict would act as a teaching signal driving a form of avoidance learning. The effect of this mechanism would be to bias behavioral decision making toward cognitively efficient tasks and strategies. We discuss evidence favoring this proposal and present an initial computational model, which lays the foundation for further development.

[1]  S. Fiske,et al.  The Handbook of Social Psychology , 1935 .

[2]  J. W. Papez.  A PROPOSED MECHANISM OF EMOTION , 1937 .

[3]  B. Skinner,et al.  Principles of Behavior , 1944 .

[4]  R. Solomon.  The influence of work on behavior. , 1948, Psychological bulletin.

[5]  George Kingsley Zipf,et al.  Human behavior and the principle of least effort , 1949 .

[6]  Yuen Ren Chao,et al.  Human Behavior and the Principle of Least Effort: An Introduction to Human Ecology , 1950 .

[7]  J Tudor-Hart,et al.  On the nature of prejudice. , 1961, The Eugenics review.

[8]  Eleanor Rosch,et al.  Principles of Categorization , 1978 .

[9]  Earl Hunt,et al.  Individual Differences in the Verification of Sentence-Picture Relationships , 1978 .

[10]  Earl Hunt,et al.  Strategy choice and strategy training in sentence—picture verification , 1980 .

[11]  M. Mesulam.  A cortical network for directed attention and unilateral neglect , 1981, Annals of neurology.

[12]  J. Hiebert.  Conceptual and procedural knowledge : the case of mathematics , 1987 .

[13]  James Hiebert.  Missing Links@@@Conceptual and Procedural Knowledge: The Case of Mathematics , 1987 .

[14]  P. Groves,et al.  Burst firing induced in midbrain dopamine neurons by stimulation of the medial prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortices , 1988, Brain Research.

[15]  T. Svensson,et al.  Local cooling of pre-frontal cortex induces pacemaker-like firing of dopamine neurons in rat ventral tegmental area in vivo. , 1989, Acta physiologica Scandinavica.

[16]  James L. McClelland,et al.  On the control of automatic processes: a parallel distributed processing account of the Stroop effect. , 1990, Psychological review.

[17]  Karl J. Friston,et al.  Willed action and the prefrontal cortex in man: a study with PET , 1991, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences.

[18]  A. Reeves,et al.  The Triune Brain in Evolution: Role in Paleocerebml Functions , 1992 .

[19]  E. Donchin,et al.  Optimizing the use of information: strategic control of activation of responses. , 1992, Journal of experimental psychology. General.

[20]  Alan C. Evans,et al.  Role of the human anterior cingulate cortex in the control of oculomotor, manual, and speech responses: a positron emission tomography study. , 1993, Journal of neurophysiology.

[21]  F. Gonon,et al.  Prefrontal cortex regulates burst firing and transmitter release in rat mesolimbic dopamine neurons studied in vivo , 1993, Neuroscience Letters.

[22]  M. Gabriel,et al.  Neurobiology of Cingulate Cortex and Limbic Thalamus: A Comprehensive Handbook , 1993 .

[23]  M. Gabriel,et al.  Discriminative Avoidance Learning: A Model System , 1993 .

[24]  N. Christenfeld.  Choices from Identical Options , 1995 .

[25]  P. Overton,et al.  Stimulation of the prefrontal cortex in the rat induces patterns of activity in midbrain dopaminergic neurons which resemble natural burst events , 1996, Synapse.

[26]  A. Damasio,et al.  Failure to respond autonomically to anticipated future outcomes following damage to prefrontal cortex. , 1996, Cerebral cortex.

[27]  C. Braun,et al.  Event-Related Brain Potentials Following Incorrect Feedback in a Time-Estimation Task: Evidence for a Generic Neural System for Error Detection , 1997, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.

[28]  M. Farah,et al.  Role of left inferior prefrontal cortex in retrieval of semantic knowledge: a reevaluation. , 1997, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[29]  M. Botvinick,et al.  Anterior cingulate cortex, error detection, and the online monitoring of performance. , 1998, Science.

[30]  Jonathan D. Cohen,et al.  Conflict monitoring versus selection-for-action in anterior cingulate cortex , 1999, Nature.

[31]  Gregory P. Lee,et al.  Different Contributions of the Human Amygdala and Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex to Decision-Making , 1999, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[32]  J. Schall,et al.  Performance monitoring by the supplementary eye ® eld , 2000 .

[33]  J. Dostrovsky,et al.  Human anterior cingulate cortex neurons modulated by attention-demanding tasks. , 2000, Journal of neurophysiology.

[34]  Erik D. Reichle,et al.  The Neural Bases of Strategy and Skill in Sentence–Picture Verification , 2000, Cognitive Psychology.

[35]  T. Braver,et al.  Anterior Cingulate and the Monitoring of Response Conflict: Evidence from an fMRI Study of Overt Verb Generation , 2000, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.

[36]  E. Crone,et al.  Dissociation of response conflict, attentional selection, and expectancy with functional magnetic resonance imaging. , 2000, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[37]  C Andrew,et al.  Motor response suppression and the prepotent tendency to respond: a parametric fMRI study , 2000, Neuropsychologia.

[38]  J. Hohnsbein,et al.  ERP components on reaction errors and their functional significance: a tutorial , 2000, Biological Psychology.

[39]  K. Kiehl,et al.  Error processing and the rostral anterior cingulate: an event-related fMRI study. , 2000, Psychophysiology.

[40]  Colin M. Macleod,et al.  Interdimensional interference in the Stroop effect: uncovering the cognitive and neural anatomy of attention , 2000, Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

[41]  T. Braver,et al.  Anterior Cingulate Cortex and Response Conflict : Effects of Response Modality and Processing Domain , 2022 .

[42]  R. Poldrack,et al.  Neural Activation During Response Competition , 2000, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.

[43]  M. Botvinick,et al.  Conflict monitoring and cognitive control. , 2001, Psychological review.

[44]  E. Miller,et al.  An integrative theory of prefrontal cortex function. , 2001, Annual review of neuroscience.

[45]  Randy L. Buckner,et al.  An Event-Related fMRI Study of Overt and Covert Word Stem Completion , 2001, NeuroImage.

[46]  M. Jackson,et al.  Stimulation of prefrontal cortex at physiologically relevant frequencies inhibits dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens , 2001, Journal of neurochemistry.

[47]  T. Braver,et al.  Anterior cingulate cortex and response conflict: effects of response modality and processing domain. , 2001, Cerebral Cortex.

[48]  Antonio R. Damasio,et al.  Unity of knowledge : the convergence of natural and human science , 2001 .

[49]  Jonathan D. Cohen,et al.  Anterior Cingulate Cortex, Conflict Monitoring, and Levels of Processing , 2001, NeuroImage.

[50]  J. Cacioppo,et al.  DISPOSITIONAL DIFFERENCES IN COGNITIVE MOTIVATION : THE LIFE AND TIMES OF INDIVIDUALS VARYING IN NEED FOR COGNITION , 1996 .

[51]  A. Dale,et al.  Dorsal anterior cingulate cortex: A role in reward-based decision making , 2001, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[52]  T. Braver,et al.  Anterior cingulate cortex and response conflict: effects of frequency, inhibition and errors. , 2001, Cerebral cortex.

[53]  K. A. Hadland,et al.  Role of the human medial frontal cortex in task switching: a combined fMRI and TMS study. , 2002, Journal of neurophysiology.

[54]  M. Balle.  La loi du moindre effort mental : Les représentations mentales , 2002 .

[55]  Adrian R. Willoughby,et al.  The Medial Frontal Cortex and the Rapid Processing of Monetary Gains and Losses , 2002, Science.

[56]  Clay B. Holroyd,et al.  The neural basis of human error processing: reinforcement learning, dopamine, and the error-related negativity. , 2002, Psychological review.

[57]  M. Walton,et al.  The Role of Rat Medial Frontal Cortex in Effort-Based Decision Making , 2002, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[58]  E. Soetens,et al.  Control over location-based response activation in the Simon task: behavioral and electrophysiological evidence. , 2002, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[59]  P. Rainville.  Brain mechanisms of pain affect and pain modulation , 2002, Current Opinion in Neurobiology.

[60]  T. Shallice,et al.  Task Switching : A PDP Model , 2001 .

[61]  Eliot Hazeltine,et al.  Dissociable Contributions of Prefrontal and Parietal Cortices to Response Selection , 2002, NeuroImage.

[62]  Jonathan D. Cohen,et al.  A computational model of anterior cingulate function in speeded response tasks: Effects of frequency, sequence, and conflict , 2002, Cognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience.

[63]  B. J. Casey,et al.  The Effect of Preceding Context on Inhibition: An Event-Related fMRI Study , 2002, NeuroImage.

[64]  John C Gore,et al.  An event-related functional MRI study comparing interference effects in the Simon and Stroop tasks. , 2002, Brain research. Cognitive brain research.

[65]  K. A. Hadland,et al.  The anterior cingulate and reward-guided selection of actions. , 2003, Journal of neurophysiology.

[66]  Ricard V. Solé,et al.  Least effort and the origins of scaling in human language , 2003, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[67]  Matthew F S Rushworth,et al.  Functional Specialization within Medial Frontal Cortex of the Anterior Cingulate for Evaluating Effort-Related Decisions , 2003, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[68]  E. Awh,et al.  Conflict adaptation effects in the absence of executive control , 2003, Nature Neuroscience.

[69]  D. H Weissman,et al.  Conflict monitoring in the human anterior cingulate cortex during selective attention to global and local object features , 2003, NeuroImage.

[70]  Keiji Tanaka,et al.  Neuronal Correlates of Goal-Based Motor Selection in the Prefrontal Cortex , 2003, Science.

[71]  Joshua W. Brown,et al.  Performance Monitoring by the Anterior Cingulate Cortex During Saccade Countermanding , 2003, Science.

[72]  D. Tucker,et al.  Electrophysiological Responses to Errors and Feedback in the Process of Action Regulation , 2003, Psychological science.

[73]  Aziz M. Ulug,et al.  Parametric manipulation of conflict and response competition using rapid mixed-trial event-related fMRI , 2003, NeuroImage.

[74]  Clay B. Holroyd,et al.  Errors in reward prediction are re£ected in the event-related brain potential , 2003 .

[75]  Matthew D. Lieberman,et al.  Does Rejection Hurt? An fMRI Study of Social Exclusion , 2003, Science.

[76]  B. Hommel,et al.  Task-switching and long-term priming: Role of episodic stimulus–task bindings in task-shift costs , 2003, Cognitive Psychology.

[77]  Cameron S. Carter,et al.  Errors without conflict: Implications for performance monitoring theories of anterior cingulate cortex , 2004, Brain and Cognition.

[78]  J. Bolam,et al.  Uniform Inhibition of Dopamine Neurons in the Ventral Tegmental Area by Aversive Stimuli , 2004, Science.

[79]  Clay B. Holroyd,et al.  Dorsal anterior cingulate cortex shows fMRI response to internal and external error signals , 2004, Nature Neuroscience.

[80]  M. Walton,et al.  Action sets and decisions in the medial frontal cortex , 2004, Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

[81]  Howard L Fields,et al.  Glutamatergic activation of anterior cingulate cortex produces an aversive teaching signal , 2004, Nature Neuroscience.

[82]  David Badre,et al.  Selection, Integration, and Conflict Monitoring Assessing the Nature and Generality of Prefrontal Cognitive Control Mechanisms , 2004, Neuron.

[83]  Jonathan D. Cohen,et al.  Conflict monitoring and anterior cingulate cortex: an update , 2004, Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

[84]  K. R. Ridderinkhof,et al.  The Role of the Medial Frontal Cortex in Cognitive Control , 2004, Science.

[85]  Jonathan D. Cohen,et al.  Anterior Cingulate Conflict Monitoring and Adjustments in Control , 2004, Science.

[86]  Jonathan D. Cohen,et al.  The neural basis of error detection: conflict monitoring and the error-related negativity. , 2004, Psychological review.

[87]  J. O'Doherty,et al.  Empathy for Pain Involves the Affective but not Sensory Components of Pain , 2004, Science.

[88]  A. Sanfey,et al.  Independent Coding of Reward Magnitude and Valence in the Human Brain , 2004, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[89]  Clay B. Holroyd,et al.  Sensitivity of electrophysiological activity from medial frontal cortex to utilitarian and performance feedback. , 2004, Cerebral cortex.

[90]  K Zilles,et al.  A functional magnetic resonance imaging study of local/global processing with stimulus presentation in the peripheral visual hemifields , 2004, Neuroscience.

[91]  Michael J. Frank,et al.  Error-Related Negativity Predicts Reinforcement Learning and Conflict Biases , 2005, Neuron.

[92]  M. Roesch,et al.  Neuronal activity in macaque SEF and ACC during performance of tasks involving conflict. , 2005, Journal of neurophysiology.

[93]  Jonathan D. Cohen,et al.  An integrative theory of locus coeruleus-norepinephrine function: adaptive gain and optimal performance. , 2005, Annual review of neuroscience.

[94]  Amishi P. Jha,et al.  Viewing facial expressions of pain engages cortical areas involved in the direct experience of pain , 2005, NeuroImage.

[95]  Joshua W. Brown,et al.  Learned Predictions of Error Likelihood in the Anterior Cingulate Cortex , 2005, Science.

[96]  Lauren M. Bylsma,et al.  The conflict adaptation effect: It’s not just priming , 2005, Cognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience.

[97]  Michael J. Frank,et al.  Dynamic Dopamine Modulation in the Basal Ganglia: A Neurocomputational Account of Cognitive Deficits in Medicated and Nonmedicated Parkinsonism , 2005, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.

[98]  E. Procyk,et al.  Anterior cingulate error‐related activity is modulated by predicted reward , 2005, The European journal of neuroscience.

[99]  Erich O. Richter,et al.  Human Anterior Cingulate Cortex Neurons Encode Cognitive and Emotional Demands , 2005, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[100]  M. Farah,et al.  Is anterior cingulate cortex necessary for cognitive control? , 2005, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[101]  John G. Kerns,et al.  Anterior cingulate and prefrontal cortex activity in an FMRI study of trial-to-trial adjustments on the Simon task , 2006, NeuroImage.

[102]  Matthew F. S. Rushworth,et al.  Weighing up the benefits of work: Behavioral and neural analyses of effort-related decision making , 2006, Neural Networks.

[103]  J. O'Doherty,et al.  Is Avoiding an Aversive Outcome Rewarding? Neural Substrates of Avoidance Learning in the Human Brain , 2006, PLoS biology.

[104]  P. Nachev.  Cognition and medial frontal cortex in health and disease , 2006, Current opinion in neurology.

[105]  Michael J. Frank,et al.  Hold your horses: A dynamic computational role for the subthalamic nucleus in decision making , 2006, Neural Networks.

[106]  M. Frank,et al.  Anatomy of a decision: striato-orbitofrontal interactions in reinforcement learning, decision making, and reversal. , 2006, Psychological review.

[107]  T. Egner.  Congruency sequence effects and cognitive control , 2007, Cognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience.

[108]  M. Botvinick,et al.  Error-likelihood prediction in the medial frontal cortex: a critical evaluation. , 2007, Cerebral cortex.

[109]  Elisa Ciaramelli,et al.  The Regulation of Cognitive Control following Rostral Anterior Cingulate Cortex Lesion in Humans , 2007, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.

[110]  Joshua W. Brown,et al.  Risk prediction and aversion by anterior cingulate cortex , 2007, Cognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience.

[111]  Kevin N. Gurney,et al.  The Basal Ganglia and Cortex Implement Optimal Decision Making Between Alternative Actions , 2007, Neural Computation.

[112]  W. Notebaert,et al.  Dissociating conflict adaptation from feature integration: a multiple regression approach. , 2007, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[113]  R. Malott,et al.  Principles of Behavior , 2007 .

[114]  Joseph T. McGuire,et al.  Effort discounting in human nucleus accumbens , 2009, Cognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience.

[115]  G. D. Logan.  Task Switching , 2022 .