Walton Mark E, Croxson Paula L, Behrens Timothy E J, Kennerley Steven W, Rushworth Matthew F S
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3UD, UK.
Neuroimage. 2007;36 Suppl 2(Suppl 2):T142-54. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2007.03.029. Epub 2007 Mar 30.
Choosing an appropriate response in an uncertain and varying world is central to adaptive behaviour. The frequent activation of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in a diverse range of tasks has lead to intense interest in and debate over its role in the guidance and control of performance. Here, we consider how this issue can be informed by a series of studies considering the ACC's role in more naturalistic situations where there is no single certain correct response and the relationships between choices and their consequences vary. A neuroimaging study of response switching demonstrates that dorsal ACC is not simply concerned with self-generated responses or error monitoring in isolation, but is instead involved in evaluating the outcome of choices, positive or negative, that have been voluntarily chosen. By contrast, an interconnected part of the orbitofrontal cortex is shown to be more active when attending to consequences of actions instructed by the experimenter. This dissociation is explained with reference to the anatomy of these regions in humans as demonstrated by diffusion weighted imaging. Lesions to a corresponding ACC region in monkeys has no effect on animals' ability to detect or immediately correct errors when response contingencies reverse, but renders them unable to sustain appropriate behaviour due to an impairment in the ability to integrate over time their recent history of choices and outcomes. Taken together, this implies a prominent role for the ACC within a distributed network of regions that determine the dynamic value of actions and guide decision making appropriately.
在一个不确定且多变的世界中做出恰当反应是适应性行为的核心。前扣带回皮质（ACC）在各种各样的任务中频繁被激活，这引发了人们对其在行为指导和控制中所起作用的浓厚兴趣和激烈争论。在此，我们探讨一系列研究如何为这个问题提供信息，这些研究考虑了ACC在更自然的情境中的作用，在这些情境中不存在单一确定的正确反应，且选择与其后果之间的关系各不相同。一项关于反应切换的神经影像学研究表明，背侧ACC并非仅仅孤立地关注自我产生的反应或错误监测，而是参与评估自愿做出的选择的结果，无论其是积极的还是消极的。相比之下，当关注实验者指示的行动后果时，眶额皮质的一个相互连接的部分显示出更活跃。这种分离可根据扩散加权成像所显示的人类这些区域的解剖结构来解释。猴子相应ACC区域的损伤在反应意外情况逆转时对动物检测或立即纠正错误的能力没有影响，但由于它们整合近期选择和结果历史的能力受损，导致它们无法维持适当的行为。综上所述，这意味着ACC在一个分布式区域网络中起着重要作用，该网络确定行动的动态价值并适当地指导决策。
