scholarly journals Aversive Motivation and Cognitive Control: Neural, Monoaminergic, and Computational Mechanisms

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debbie Marianne Yee ◽  
Xiamin Leng ◽  
Amitai Shenhav ◽  
Todd Samuel Braver
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Precise Measurement ◽  
Neural Circuit ◽  
Negative Reinforcement ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Control Allocation ◽  
Neural Pathways ◽  
Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Lateral Habenula ◽  
Aversive Motivation

Aversive motivation plays a prominent role in motivating individuals to exert cognitive control. However, a significant obstacle has been the complexity of behavioral responses attributed to aversive incentives. In this review, we posit that incorporating motivational context and mixed motivation will enhance our current understanding of the neural and computational mechanisms underpinning these interactions. We highlight how delineating whether aversive incentives facilitate negative reinforcement or punishment can inform dissociable neural pathways and computational mechanisms for cognitive control allocation. Additionally, we demonstrate how including multiple bundled incentives in experimental paradigms enables precise measurement of aversive influences on cognitive control. The lateral habenula and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex are featured as part of a broader neural circuit for aversive motivational value, and dopaminergic and serotonergic projections may guide dissociable strategies for cognitive control allocation. Finally, these motivational dimensions help generate normative predictions for divergent strategies for control allocation. In sum, incorporating these motivational dimensions will facilitate more sophisticated understanding of the neural, monoaminergic, and computational mechanisms of aversive motivation and cognitive control.

Neural Dynamics of Rejection Sensitivity

2007 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
pp. 945-956 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ethan Kross ◽  
Tobias Egner ◽  
Kevin Ochsner ◽  
Joy Hirsch ◽  
Geraldine Downey
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Emotional Processing ◽  
Rejection Sensitivity ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Affective Stimuli ◽  
Emotional Appraisal ◽  
Interest Level

Rejection sensitivity (RS) is the tendency to anxiously expect, readily perceive, and intensely react to rejection. This study used functional magnetic resonance imaging to explore whether individual differences in RS are mediated by differential recruitment of brain regions involved in emotional appraisal and/or cognitive control. High and low RS participants were scanned while viewing either representational paintings depicting themes of rejection and acceptance or nonrepresentational control paintings matched for positive or negative valence, arousal and interest level. Across all participants, rejection versus acceptance images activated regions of the brain involved in processing affective stimuli (posterior cingulate, insula), and cognitive control (dorsal anterior cingulate cortex; medial frontal cortex). Low and high RS individuals' responses to rejection versus acceptance images were not, however, identical. Low RS individuals displayed significantly more activity in left inferior and right dorsal frontal regions, and activity in these areas correlated negatively with participants' self-report distress ratings. In addition, control analyses revealed no effect of viewing negative versus positive images in any of the areas described above, suggesting that the aforementioned activations were involved in rejection-relevant processing rather than processing negatively valenced stimuli per se. Taken together, these findings suggest that responses in regions traditionally implicated in emotional processing and cognitive control are sensitive to rejection stimuli irrespective of RS, but that low RS individuals may activate prefrontal structures to regulate distress associated with viewing such images.

scholarly journals Nicotine dependence (trait) and acute nicotinic stimulation (state) modulate attention but not cognitive control: converging fMRI evidence from Go-Nogo and Flanker tasks

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Lesage ◽  
M.T. Sutherland ◽  
T.J. Ross ◽  
B.J. Salmeron ◽  
E.A. Stein
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Nicotine Dependence ◽  
Flanker Task ◽  
Cognitive Demand ◽  
Nicotine Withdrawal ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Related Activity ◽  
Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Double Blind ◽  
Pharmacological Manipulations

ABSTRACTCognitive deficits during nicotine withdrawal may contribute to smoking relapse. However, interacting effects of chronic nicotine dependence and acute nicotine withdrawal on cognitive control are poorly understood. Here, we examine the effects of nicotine dependence (trait; smokers versus non-smoking controls), and acute nicotinic stimulation (state; administration of nicotine and varenicline, two FDA-approved smoking cessation aids, during abstinence), on two well-established tests of cognitive control, the Go-Nogo task and the Flanker task, during fMRI scanning. We compared performance and neural responses between these four pharmacological manipulations in a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover design. As expected, performance in both tasks was modulated by nicotine dependence, abstinence and pharmacological manipulation. However, effects were driven entirely by conditions that required less cognitive control. When demand for cognitive control was high, abstinent smokers showed no deficits. By contrast, acutely abstinent smokers showed performance deficits in easier conditions and missed more trials. Go-Nogo fMRI results showed decreased inhibition-related neural activity in right anterior insula and right putamen in smokers and decreased dorsal anterior cingulate cortex activity on nicotine across groups. No effects were found on inhibition-related activity during the Flanker task, or on error-related activity in either task. Given robust nicotinic effects on physiology and behavioral deficits in attention, we are confident that pharmacological manipulations were effective. Thus, findings fit a recent proposal that abstinent smokers show decreased ability to divert cognitive resources at low or intermediate cognitive demand, while performance at high cognitive demand remains relatively unaffected, suggesting a primary attentional deficit during acute abstinence.

scholarly journals Language switching training modulates the neural network of non-linguistic cognitive control

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. e0247100
Author(s):  
Mo Chen ◽  
Fengyang Ma ◽  
Zhaoqi Zhang ◽  
Shuhua Li ◽  
Man Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neural Network ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Structural Equation Models ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Language Switching ◽  
Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
The Neural Network ◽  
The Impact

Bilingual language experience, such as switching between languages, has been shown to shape both cognitive and neural mechanisms of non-linguistic cognitive control. However, the neural adaptations induced by language switching remain unclear. Using fMRI, the current study examined the impact of short-term language switching training on the neural network of domain-general cognitive control for unbalanced Chinese-English bilinguals. Effective connectivity maps were constructed by using the extended unified structural equation models (euSEM) within 10 common brain regions involved in both language control and domain-general cognitive control. Results showed that, the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex/pre-supplementary motor area (dACC/pre-SMA) lost connection from the right thalamus after training, suggesting that less neural connectivity was required to complete the same domain-general cognitive control task. These findings not only provide direct evidence for the modulation of language switching training on the neural interaction of domain-general cognitive control, but also have important implications for revealing the potential neurocognitive adaptation effects of specific bilingual language experiences.

DEMENTIA AND THE ‘COCKTAIL PARTY’ PROBLEM

2015 ◽  
Vol 86 (11) ◽  
pp. e4.138-e4
Author(s):  
Salwa Kamourieh ◽  
Richard Wise
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Cholinesterase Inhibition ◽  
Cocktail Party ◽  
Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Memory Decline ◽  
Female Speaker ◽  
Cocktail Party Problem ◽  
Significant Impairment ◽  
Male Speaker

BackgroundListening to one speaker in the presence of others (the ‘cocktail party’ problem) increases demands on attention and cognitive control. This study investigated the function of fronto-parietal systems and auditory regions in patients with progressive memory impairment.MethodsTwenty-five healthy volunteers (controls) and 32 patients were studied with functional MRI. The task involved attending to a female speaker, either in the absence or the presence of a masking male speaker.ResultsA behavioural measure designed to assess success at attending to the female speaker demonstrated a significant impairment in the patient group compared to the controls. This was associated with reduced activity in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), involved in attention and cognitive control, and in the left planum temporale (lPT), an auditory region central to solving the ‘cocktail party’ problem. However, treatment with galantamine in 18 patients resulted in no behavioural improvement and no increase in dACC or lPT activity.ConclusionsAn inability to register verbal information when listening in the presence of distracting background speech will contribute to complaints of ‘impaired memory’ and social isolation. We did not find evidence that central cholinesterase inhibition can improve this function in patients complaining of progressive memory decline.

scholarly journals Role of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex in obsessive-compulsive disorder: converging evidence from cognitive neuroscience and psychiatric neurosurgery

2017 ◽  
Vol 126 (1) ◽  
pp. 132-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert A. McGovern ◽  
Sameer A. Sheth
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Functional Neuroimaging ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Neurosurgical Procedures ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Compulsive Disorder

OBJECTIVE Advances in understanding the neurobiological basis of psychiatric disorders will improve the ability to refine neuromodulatory procedures for treatment-refractory patients. One of the core dysfunctions in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a deficit in cognitive control, especially involving the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC). The authors' aim was to derive a neurobiological understanding of the successful treatment of refractory OCD with psychiatric neurosurgical procedures targeting the dACC. METHODS First, the authors systematically conducted a review of the literature on the role of the dACC in OCD by using the search terms “obsessive compulsive disorder” and “anterior cingulate.” The neuroscience literature on cognitive control mechanisms in the dACC was then combined with the literature on psychiatric neurosurgical procedures targeting the dACC for the treatment of refractory OCD. RESULTS The authors reviewed 89 studies covering topics that included structural and functional neuroimaging and electrophysiology. The majority of resting-state functional neuroimaging studies demonstrated dACC hyperactivity in patients with OCD relative to that in controls, while task-based studies were more variable. Electrophysiological studies showed altered dACC-related biomarkers of cognitive control, such as error-related negativity in OCD patients. These studies were combined with the cognitive control neurophysiology literature, including the recently elaborated expected value of control theory of dACC function. The authors suggest that a central feature of OCD pathophysiology involves the generation of mis-specified cognitive control signals by the dACC, and they elaborate on this theory and provide suggestions for further study. CONCLUSIONS Although abnormalities in brain structure and function in OCD are distributed across a wide network, the dACC plays a central role. The authors propose a theory of cognitive control dysfunction in OCD that attempts to explain the therapeutic efficacy of dACC neuromodulation. This theoretical framework should help to guide further research into targeted treatments of OCD and other disorders of cognitive control.

scholarly journals Transcranial Focused Ultrasound Alters Conflict and Emotional Processing, Physiology, and Performance II: Right Anterior Insula/Frontal Operculum Targeting

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria E Fini ◽  
William J Tyler
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Emotional Processing ◽  
Focused Ultrasound ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Attention Switching ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Emotional Attention ◽  
Transcranial Focused Ultrasound

The dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) operates as an integrator of bottom-up and top-down signals and is implicated in both cognitive control and emotional processing. The dACC is believed to be causally involved in switching between attention networks, and previous work has linked it to cognitive performance, concentration, relaxation, and emotional distraction. The present study was designed to evaluate the feasibility of influencing default mode network (DMN) activity and emotional attention by targeting and modulating the dACC with transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS). Subjects were divided into two groups, one receiving MR-neuronavigated tFUS to the dACC and the other an identical, but inactive tFUS sham. Subjects performed a modified version of the Erikson flanker paradigm using fear and neutral faces as emotional background distractors. Our observations demonstrate that tFUS can be targeted to the human dACC to produce effects consistent with those expected from relaxed contention, including significantly reduced reaction time slowing due to emotional distractors, and an increase in parasympathetic markers of the HRV. These results suggest that tFUS altered emotional processing and enhanced sustained attention, perhaps by facilitating reduced attentional engagement with emotional distractors and reduced need for attention switching evidenced by significant effects on event related potentials (ERPs), reduced alpha suppression, and modulation of delta and theta EEG activity. We conclude that the dACC represents a viable neuroanatomical target for tFUS in order to modulate DMN activity, including emotional attention, conflict resolution, and cognitive control. These effects of dACC-targeted tFUS may prove useful for treating certain mental health disorders known to involve perturbed DMN activity, such as depression and anxiety.

scholarly journals Testing competing models of dorsal anterior cingulate

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eliana Vassena ◽  
James Deraeve ◽  
William H. Alexander
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Empirical Testing ◽  
Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Competing Models ◽  
Empirical Tests

Recent theories have attempted to provide unifying accounts of dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), a region routinely observed in studies of cognitive control and decision-making. Despite the proliferation of frameworks, rigorous empirical testing has lagged behind theory. Here we test competing predictions of three accounts of dACC using a simple value-based decision-making task. We find that the Predicted Response-Outcome model provides an integrative and parsimonious account of our results. Our results highlight the need for increased emphasis on empirical tests of theoretical frameworks.

scholarly journals Macaque anterior cingulate cortex deactivation impairs performance and alters lateral prefrontal oscillatory activities in a rule-switching task

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liya Ma ◽  
Jason L. Chan ◽  
Kevin Johnston ◽  
Stephen G. Lomber ◽  
Stefan Everling
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Stimulus Response ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal ◽  
Phase Amplitude ◽  
Switching Task

SUMMARYIn primates, both the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) are key regions of the frontoparietal cognitive control network. To study the role of the dACC and its communication with the dlPFC in cognitive control, we recorded the local field potentials from the dlPFC before and during the reversible deactivation of the dACC, in macaque monkeys engaging in uncued switches between two stimulus-response rules. Cryogenic dACC deactivation impaired response accuracy during rule-maintenance, but not rule-switching, which coincided with a reduction in the correct-error difference in dlPFC beta activities specifically during maintenance of the more challenging rule. During both rule switching and maintenance, dACC deactivation prolonged the animals’ reaction time and reduced task-related theta/alpha activities in the dlPFC; it also weakened dlPFC theta-gamma phase-amplitude modulation. Thus, the dACC and its interaction with the dlPFC plays a critical role in the maintenance of a new, challenging rule.

scholarly journals Reward and adversity processing circuits, their competition and interactions with dopamine and serotonin signaling.

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karin Vadovičová ◽  
Roberto Gasparotti
Keyword(s):  
Inhibitory Avoidance ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Reward Processing ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Lateral Habenula ◽  
Serotonin Signaling ◽  
Processing Circuit

We propose that dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), anterior insula (AI) and adjacent caudolateral orbitofrontal cortex (clOFC), project to lateral habenula (LHb) and D2 loop of ventral striatum (VS), forming a functional adversity processing circuit, directed towards inhibitory avoidance and self-control. This circuit learns what is bad or harmful to us, evaluates and predicts risks - to stop us from selecting and going/moving for the bad or suboptimal choices that decrease our well-being and survival chances. Proposed role of dACC is to generate a WARNING signal when things are going (or might end) bad or wrong to prevent negative consequences: pain, harm, loss or failure. The AI signals about bad, low, noxious and aversive qualities, which might make us sick or cause discomfort. These cortical adversity processing regions activate directly and indirectly (via D2 loop of VS) the LHb, which then inhibits dopamine and serotonin release (and is reciprocally inhibited by VTA/SNc, DRN) to avoid choosing and doing things leading to harm or loss, but also to make us feel worse, even down when overstimulated. We propose that dopamine attenuates output of the adversity processing circuit, thus decreasing inhibitory avoidance and self-control, while serotonin attenuates dACC, AI, clOFC, D1 loop of VS, LHb, amygdala and pain pathway. Thus, by reciprocal inhibition, by causing dopamine and serotonin suppression - and by being suppressed by them, the adversity processing circuit competes with reward processing circuit for control of choice behaviour and affective states. We propose stimulating effect of dopamine and calming inhibitory effect of serotonin on the active avoidance circuit involving amygdala, linked to threat processing, anger, fear, self-defense and violence. We describe causes and roles of dopamine and serotonin signaling in health and in mental dysfunctions. We add new idea on ventral ACC role in signaling that we are doing well and inducing serotonin, when we gain/reach safety, comfort, valuable resources (social or biological rewards), affection and achieve goals.

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