Another major function of the anterior cingulate cortex: The representation of requirements

The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is a ubiquitously active brain region, doubtless reflecting a multiplicity of functions. Improved knowledge of such functions should progress understanding of disorders with established ACC involvement, including depression, apathy, and addiction. This theoretical...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews 2012, Vol.36 (1), p.90-110
Main Author: WESTON, C. S. E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Animals
Anxiety disorders. Neuroses
Behavioral psychophysiology
Biological and medical sciences
Brain Mapping
Cognition - physiology
Depression
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Gyrus Cinguli - physiology
Gyrus Cinguli - physiopathology
Homeostasis - physiology
Humans
Medical sciences
Mental Disorders - pathology
Mood disorders
Motivation - physiology
Neuroimaging
Pain - pathology
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
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Summary:The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is a ubiquitously active brain region, doubtless reflecting a multiplicity of functions. Improved knowledge of such functions should progress understanding of disorders with established ACC involvement, including depression, apathy, and addiction. This theoretical paper proposes a hypothesis concerning an original and important ACC function, namely that the ACC operates as part of distributed networks to which it contributes the representation of requirements. Such requirements are further suggested to proactively coordinate and organize processing in effector regions to achieve consummation, thereby implementing an optimal strategy. The ACC (predominantly Brodmann's areas 24 and 32) is activated during states characterized by active requirements such as homeostatic perturbations, pain, desire, addiction, and cognition, and this is evidenced by systematic reviews of neuroimaging studies, and by neuropsychological findings. Further, ACC activity commences early in processing, and proactively influences processing in effector regions, further supporting the hypothesis. Thus, this hypothesis accounts for some ACC findings that are otherwise unexplained, and proposes novel testable predictions offering new insights into ACC functional organization.
ISSN:0149-7634
1873-7528
DOI:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2011.04.014